Author's Note: I am terribly sorry for the wait, there's no excuse I can give to make up for the time I spent updating. Just been focusing on school and stuff. Now I really wanted to finish this so I just put down what I could think of, it's messy but hope it's good. Enjoy.
Chapter 20: Route Home
Chance was in the gym portion of the base, hammering away at the same punching bag as before. The only difference was his arm was completely healed so there wasn't any pain he had to hide at all. There wasn't much for him to do, he had to wait on Jake and the professor to fix the radar first and that was taking time. There wasn't much he could do except work out to keep his body in shape.
The Rovers have given them good hospitality, but it still felt like they were wearing out their welcome. They weren't really doing that much, mainly because they weren't sure what to do. They didn't know the city they were in so going out wasn't really a good idea, and it might be selfish to ask one of the Rovers to accompany them. So in the end there wasn't anything else to do but just wait until a chance for them to go home presented itself.
"I see you're at it again," A gentle voice spoke from behind.
Chance made one last punch before turning to see Colleen walking up to him. "Hey there," he turned back and continued the exercise.
"I see you're still at it," the collie responded as she stood and watched the tom.
"Well my arm is feeling much better and there's nothing much I can do around here," He grunted as he continued to hammer away at the bag.
"I know this is hard but it's going to take time to find another solution."
Giving one last strike Chance sighed before turning to Colleen, "I'm sorry but…it's been nearly a week since we've been here. Jake and I are hero's from where we are…its just nerve racking not knowing what's happening in our absence. Keeping myself busy is the only way I can keep my mind off of things like that…and waiting."
"We know this…but you should just relax for right now. Who knows when you're going to get another chance to just kick back and not worry about anything?"
Both of the tom's arms crossed as he thought about what the collie said. She did have a point, worrying isn't a good thing for him right now. Plus Jake had been telling him it would be a good time to just unwind for a but before they had to go back on the clock. It was an idea but how long could it keep him distracted? "I see your point…but there's nothing much I can do around here."
"Then why don't you ask us?"
He sighed before explaining the reason, "Look, Jake and I really appreciate all you have done for us…it feels like asking too much so we can be entertained."
"Chance, you're our new friends and it wouldn't be asking too much. Besides who knows if this'll be the last time we'll see each other."
The realization of the response struck the tom instantly, she was right this could be the only time he and Jake could be with their new friends. Their time is limited and they haven't done that much together that counts as good memories. "I hate it when I'm wrong."
"We all have to be wrong at some point…" putting a hand on his shoulder she spoke out. "Forget this training and do something that you won't regret later on."
Thinking it over Chance came to an easy decision, "Yeah, sure." He smiled, as did Colleen. Being the first to turn and walk out the burly tom followed.
Inside the Hanger Jake sat in the backseat of the TurboKat, installing the radar. Professor Hubert was crouched on the wing, looking at the ginger tom work. They made a little modification to the radar, using the missile that held Hard Drive and connected it with some special insolated wires. Also attached to it was a box that measured how many volts of electricity were being coursed through the jet. "Ok that should do it," Jake spoke as he finished screwing in the radar.
"Good, that took a lot of time," The bloodhound wipe some sweat off of him.
"I know, and also thanks for finding a way to shut Hard Drive up," He laughed. As soon as the missile was taking from its hiding spot the kat inside shouted many insults to them, and the two wanted him to shut up. Thankfully the professor worked up something that'll allow them to mute the voice, which was a real relief to them.
"Ok, so now what?" Jake asked, looking the device over.
"You just have to turn it on and then let the electricity build up before letting it into the device…if I calculated things right, it should recreate a bolt of lightning."
"And it should get us back home?" He asked first, getting his hopes up.
"Yes, that should be it," The professor nodded.
It was then Jake frowned as another possibility popped into his mind. "And if it doesn't work?"
The bloodhound took a moment before sighing and giving the news, "It'll cause the radar to overload and destroy it."
That piece of information caused the ginger tom to wince a bit, that wasn't a good thing to hear. They would only get one shot at this and if it went bad then the only piece of equipment they needed to get home would get destroyed. They would be stuck here forever. "I'm not liking this one bit…it's too much of a risk."
"I know, but the only option is to wait for the next thunder storm."
Jake slumped back in his seat, sighing heavily, "Either option is a risk…both has its upside and major downside…I'm going to talk with Chance about it, it's not my decision alone."
"You do that, take all the time you need," The bloodhound responded as he started to climb off of the jet.
"I hope we don't," The ginger tom sighed as he climbed out as well.
Inside the Rec room everyone could be found, either relaxing or playing one of the many games they had.
Both sets of parents were sitting down around the couches, little Christian crawling on the ground as Axel held Marina in his arms. The little retriever mix looked up at the small Akita. "You see that hun, that's your cousin," Colleen spoke to her son.
"Her name is Marina," Ariel responded, who was sitting next to Axel.
The male Akita then lowered his arms so Christian could see the sleeping bundle. He continued to look at her, causing a smile on everyone's face.
Off to the side Exile, Blitz and Chance were all playing pool; the three looked over at the scene then went back to their game. "Man they are happy," Exile spoke out.
"I know, I would have never though having a child could do something like that," Chance responded as he prepared to take a shot.
"I know…makes me want to have children some day," Blitz responded.
"As do I comrade," the husky responded.
Chance shot the cue ball and knocked one into the pocket. "Hold onto that, it might come true someday."
"We are," Exile responded. Before anything else was said the door opened and Jake walked into the room. Looking around he saw his friend and moved closer to him.
Chance saw his buddy coming and then noticed the look on his face, it told him that something was up. "What's going on?" he asked once he was close enough.
"I got to talk to you," Jake motioned for them to talk outside of the room. The burly tom raised an eye before nodding and following his partner.
"What do you think it's about?" Exile asked.
"Not sure," Blitz responded. The two then went back to their game, waiting for their friends to come back.
"Isn't there any other way?" Chance asked after hearing what Jake had to say.
"I'm afraid not pal," Jake responded as he shook his head. "The only choices are to use the new option…or wait till another storm."
"We can't wait…not that long," Chance sighed as he began to pace a bit. "But this new option could possibly strand us here…for good."
"That's…the gist of it."
As he paced Chance continued to speak, "You know, we have been known to take risks…but how big of a risk are we willing to take?"
"That depends on what we're risking," The ginger tom responded, moving closer to his friend. "Are we willing to risk our city's safety for being away for a long while, or do we risk not being able to go home again?"
Chance finally stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, thinking. The thought of never being able to go home was scary, but also the thought of not being able to protect their city for so long made things worse. Both had its downsides, but one was more costly. "Are we truly dedicated to what we do?" Chance then asked.
Jake blinked in confusion at the question, "Yes we are."
Pushing himself off of the wall the burly tom gave his answer, "Then we're going to take the biggest risk of them all."
Jake watched as a look of seriousness was on his friend's face, he was committed to this. "Are you absolutely sure, I mean once we do this there's no turning back," he asked, making sure the decision was final.
"Positive, either we go home, or we get stranded," A nod confirmed.
"Alright, but how do we break it to the others?"
"Lets wait till later, Lets have a good time before we try to go home," Chance responded with a sincere expression. "Lets just…cling onto that last bit of hope."
There was a silent agreement as Jake nodded; the response was more than enough of an answer for him. "When should we tell them?"
"Later…lets just try not to get the mood down."
Before anything else was said the door opened and Hunter walked out, seeing the two he walked over to them. "Is something wrong you two?"
"Uh nothing…just talking about the jet," Chance tried to cover.
"Yeah," Jake seconded.
Hunter could pick up a little nervousness in their voices, but he tried not to show it. He could tell they were discussing something important but let it go, "Alright if you say so." With that the retriever left the two alone, going back to his family.
Once he was gone both friends looked at one another, "So…till later, just pretend everything's fine," Chance spoke.
Jake nodded to his friend, "Yes, sounds good."
The rest of the day went off like normal; the Rovers and Swat Kats did various things to pass the time. They played the games in the Rec room, went out to swim on the beach, heck the Rovers even took them into the city and showed them things. All in all the day was terrific and everyone enjoyed it. It was starting to get dark and Shag had prepared dinner for all of them.
The big sheepdog had cooked up some juicy chicken wings, mashed potatoes with gravy, and along with some steamed vegetables. Everyone gathered around the dinning room table, the children were asleep so they could enjoy their meal without interruption. Chance took a bite out of his chicken wing and couldn't help but make and audible groan of satisfaction, "Man this is so good!"
"I hear you buddy," Jake responded, eating some aw well. "Never had cooking like this in a long time."
"Comrade Shag good cook," Exile praised his large friend. "Can make delicious dishes."
"Raaaa, Ranks (Awww thanks)," Shag, responded with a smile, loving the praise.
"You'll should see him on a good day," Jenna responded, making Shag smile more at the praise.
"If it's any good as this I can only imagine," Jake chuckled.
Just then Muzzle all hopped over to Hunter's side, the retriever chuckled as he saw his Rottweiler friend. "Hey there Muzzle," he reached out and petted the restrained canine. A purr was heard as he did that. Muzzle then eyed Hunter's piece of chicken, licking his chops. The retriever saw this and couldn't help but chuckle, "Ok, here you go." Picking the piece of his plate Hunter tossed it into the air, despite Muzzle having a muzzle on he still managed to catch and scarf down the chicken, bone and all. The Rottweiler sighed in satisfaction and started to bounce away. "Ok bye, bye," Hunter smiled.
"You know I'm going to miss him," Chance managed to say.
"Yeah, we're going to miss you guys once you're gone," Colleen responded, all attention now on them.
It was then the demeanor in both cats changed; both looked at another and silently spoke to one another. Chance nodded as he agreed with his friend. "There's something we have to tell you all." The tone in the curly tom's voice was enough to grab their attention.
"What is it?" Shadow asked.
Jake took over from there, "We have a way to go home."
"That's wonderful," Krystal responded first, but the looks on their faces indicated different. "Isn't it?"
"It's a risk…a huge one," Chance sighed, food all forgotten.
"How big of a risk?" Blitz asked.
"Not being able to return home big," Jake admitted.
The atmosphere in the room changed as they heard the news, no one knew what to say in response to the information given to them. Seeing this Jake continued talking, "Your professor and I installed something to our radar…harnessing enough electricity will enable us to simulate a bolt of lightning striking the jet. The end result should let us go home."
"But…"Ariel was the first to speak for the Rovers. "What's the bad part?"
Both cats sighed heavily before Chance resumed, "if it doesn't work…our radar, the thing we need, is destroyed stranding us here in this dimension for good."
"We're…sorry to hear that," Sierra said, earning a nod from the rest of us.
"This is our only option," Chance continued. "We can't stay here for that long…not as long as we have a city to defend."
"We understand that," Hunter responded. "We would be in the same situation if it happened to us."
"We just hope it works," Jake hopped.
"If not…we could always use you all for the team," The retriever smiled, as well as everyone else. "You guys can handle yourselves well and you'd be more than welcome."
"Thanks, but no offense but I hope it doesn't happen."
"We understand."
"When do you…try to leave?" Axel asked.
"Tonight."
"That soon?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah…better get it over with now than worrying about it later."
"Makes sense."
Both Jake and Chance smiled, "Still…it was good meeting you all."
"Likewise." They all then forgot about the conversation and went back to eating, things were just normal right then.
An hour later everyone could be found in the hanger, the two toms were prepping so they could leave. The two were already dressed in their G-suits and were going over last minute checks. The Rovers helped out the best they could, things were quiet as the situation became for real. "Is everything good?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, everything's good," Jake, responded, moving over to the front of the jet.
The Professor and Master both came out to see off their new friends. "You sure you know how to work it?" The professor asked.
"Yeah, just hit the switch once we're airborne and have enough speed."
"And also…if this does work there's an upside to your radar now."
"And that is?" Chance asked as he climbed down the ladder.
"You can use the same tactic so you can come back to this dimension whenever you want," the bloodhound smiled, which caused wide eyes for everyone.
"You serious?" Jake asked.
"Yup."
"The professor had outdid himself once more," the Master smiled as he looked into his pocket.
"This is unreal," Chance responded in shock.
"I know…" the human then pulled out some sort of transmitter. "This is hooked up to your radar, with it we can talk to each other despite dimensions."
"Whoa," both toms responded as Jake took it.
"Wow, we can still stay in contact no matter what," Colleen responded.
"Yeah, it'll be good to have more friends," Axel seconded.
"And we're thankful for that," Chance smiled.
There was a small presence of silence for Jake spoke up, "Well…this is it."
The Rovers all started to give farewell handshakes and hugs as the two toms started to get ready to depart as they all said goodbye. "We cannot thank you two enough for everything you'd done," The Master spoke. "You're very talented and good spirited, we wish you safety on your Journey."
"Thank you," Both of them said.
They then turned back to the ladder and climbed up to the cockpit, as they did the Rovers, and Master all made their way out to the beach so they could see them in flight. Once in their seats both toms put on their helmets and buckled themselves into their seats before turning on the power. "All systems online," Chance spoke.
"Engines are green, as well as the computers…." Jake seconded before looking at the seat in front of him. "You ready for this?"
"Anytime buddy," Chance nodded. "Lets go home." He then push the engine lever forward and they came to life. The engines roared as they were blasted out of the hanger and onto the runway, gaining speed. They could see the runway ending as they were launched into the sky of the night. They gained altitude as they circled the sky. "Everything's normal…ready?"
"Yes," Jake hesitated before gripping the lever near the radar. Nodding he then threw the switch, immediately throwing the jet into a spiral.
On the beach the Rovers all watched as the Turbokat went spinning in an electrical frenzy. All were concerned as they weren't sure if they were ok or not, but there was a bright flash and then they were gone. Once the shock passed they all looked around, trying to see if they crashed or something. "Anyone see them?" Ariel asked.
"Nein, nothing," Blitz responded.
"Then that means," Hunter started but the Professor spoke.
"They made it."
Not all the Rovers were convinced. "How can we be sure?" Shadow asked.
It was then the other transmitter that the Master had gone off, producing static. Taking it out he spoke into it, "Anyone there?"
"Hey it works," Jake's voice could be heard.
"Hey there, did it work?"
Chance's voice could be heard now, "Yes, we're back."
"Good, I'm happy for you two."
"Thank you all very much for your help," Jake's voice could be heard again. "Talk again soon, bye."
"Bye!" All of the Rovers said as the line turned off.
The Master put the device away with a smile, "Well our new friends are safe and sound."
"That's a relief," Hunter responded with a smile, as did everyone else.
"Yeah, and it's a good thing comrades can come visit anytime," Exile seconded.
"More allies," Axel spoke then smiled. "And friends."
"True bro," he then looked at the others. "Lets go inside." They all nodded and headed inside. They had finished helping out their friends and now they could see them again. They may have gained allies this day but most importantly now is that they gained friends.
END
A/N: Hope you like, I tried but this was the end result. Now this story is done with. I will tell you that I'm working on the next one but it's going to be much different. First of i'm going to write a few chapters ahead of time so I don't spend much time rushing. Plus my next plot is a little darker than what i'm used to. I thank you all for sticking with this story. Till next time.