Hey, Readers!
Here's Part Three of the Halloween story arc! This story is mainly backstory on Max, but also with Chance's as well (since I talked a bit about Jake's past in an earlier chapter). This particular chapter is also mainly a hurt/comfort chapter, so if that's not your thing, I plan on doing another chapter of short stories about life with Max, Jake and Chance.
I hope y'all're enjoying the story so far; again, if ANY of you have any ideas/comments about chapter ideas and characters, feel free to DM me (NO SPAM!) with your thoughts!
Hope you enjoy this chapter; favorite, follow and review if you like, and I hope y'all're doing good! Note: I do NOT own Kit Kats in ANY way, shape or form.
-aggiefrogger
Halloween: Part 3
The ride back to the lair was a quiet one, but the tension was so tough, one could cut it with a knife. Max sat in between the two kats, probably so he couldn't easily get away, but also for safety, he guessed. Jake and Chance remained silent for the entirety of the ride, which only made the teen more terrified of what would happen when they got back to the hidden lair. They were driving fast, and knowing how upset they were, he prayed that they wouldn't crash or do something stupid in their state of anger.
When they finally parked the Cyclotron in the underground garage, the young man hesitated before getting off the bike, standing by the vehicle as the two Swat Kats turned to face him. He couldn't even look them in the eyes, and looked down at his feet, bracing himself for whatever was to come.
"What the HELL WERE YOU THINKING," Chance finally snapped, his voice echoing slightly through the room.
"Here we go," the teen muttered to himself, feeling like a kid being reprimanded for breaking a window as he finally looked up at the Swat Kats.
"AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE DONE FOR YOU: GIVING YOU A PLACE TO STAY, FOOD TO EAT, KEEPING YOU SAFE, TRAINING YOU TO FIGHT, EVEN THE CLOTHES OFF OUR BACKS, AND YOU NEARLY EXPOSE OUR SECRET JUST TO HAVE A NIGHT ON THE TOWN?!"
"I-" the young man started to say, knowing that the feline was right in some respects but not all of them.
"YOU HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT VAGUE AND SECRETIVE WITH US SINCE YOU'VE CAME HERE! AND NOW YOU'RE LYING TO US, RISKING EVERYTHING WE'VE SPENT YEARS BUILDING, BESIDES PUTTING YOURSELF AND THAT KAMERAKAT IN DANGER!"
"Chance-" Jake started to say, probably to try and calm his friend down.
"ARE ALL YOU HUMANS SELFISH," the large pilot demanded, jabbing a finger at Max's chest, "OR ARE YOU JUST AN ASSHOLE?!"
"CHANCE," his friend now shouted as Max tried to back away, nearly tripping over the Cyclotron behind him.
"I WANT AN ANSWER FROM HIM," the kat demanded, glaring at the human, his fists clenched. "'CAUSE IF NOT, WE SHOULD JUST SEND HIM PACKING, SINCE HE WANTS TO GO OUT ON HIS OWN SO BADLY!"
"You know as well as I that I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Max finally snapped angrily, though he was secretly worried at the prospect of being turned away from the only place he could stay in this world. "Do you think I wanted to be taken from my planet AND time, forced to live with a bunch of talking cats monsters in a world where everyone and everything I know and love doesn't even EXIST?! I've done nothing but help the two of you with your crappy jobs and tried my best not to complain but the ONE TIME I wanted to do something I wanted to do, you wouldn't let me! Who's the asshole now?!"
"BECAUSE WE WERE TRYIN' TO HELP YOU, DUMB-ASS," Chance shouted, some spit flying from his mouth.
"WHY NOT HELP YOURSELVES FOR A CHANGE," the teen shouted back, his face as furious as the kat's. "LAST TIME I CHECKED, I WASN'T THE ONE WHO CRASHED A FIGHTER PLANE AND RUINED ME AND MY BEST FRIEND'S CAREERS!"
The kat's fist lashed out, but the teen was ready this time. Grabbing the arm, he quickly managed to flip the large feline over his shoulder and over the Cyclotron, sending him tumbling to the ground. The Swat Kat quickly scrambled to his feet, snarling, and tackled the human to the ground, the two of them landing hard on the floor and throwing punches as the young man tried to get the burly kat off of him. Jake tried to break the two apart, but got knocked back, just as the pilot landed a blow to the teen's face, which the human quickly returned.
"TAKE THAT BACK," Chance growled.
"SCREW YOU, FUR-BALL," the human replied, aiming a kick at the kat, which he blocked. Eventually, the cinnamon tabby managed to pry his partner off of Max, holding him back in a tight headlock.
"CHANCE! Calm down," Jake shouted, doing his best to restrain his friend as Max lay on the ground, feeling a welt swell on the side of his face. "Just CALM DOWN! This won't solve anything!"
"WE CAN'T TRUST HIM," his friend argued, still trying to attack the human, his own welt swelling up under his fur. "WHAT IF WE'D BEEN DISCOVERED TONIGHT?! FERAL WOULD'VE SKINNED US ALIVE AND WE'D BE IN WORSE CRUD THAN WE EVER WERE!"
"Chance, calm down," the cinnamon kat repeated, still restraining his friend.
"I AIN'T GOIN' TO JAIL BECAUSE OF HIM, JAKE! I AIN'T GOIN'! I PROMISED MY MOM I WOULDN'T GO DOWN THE SAME PATH AS MY DAD OR BROTHER, AND- ANd- and I… "
The kat suddenly broke down into tears, and Jake was now trying to hold his fellow Swat Kat as his body wracked with sobs, shocking both his friend and the human lying nearby, startled by this sudden change in emotion. While it was shocking to see Chance as angry as he was moments earlier, seeing him blubbering like a baby was even more shocking, and almost wrong, in a way. Eventually, the two kats slowly sank to the ground, Jake still holding his best friend in an awkward hug as the buryly tabby continued to cry, comforting his best friend. Max slowly sat up, taking in what the kat had said moments prior about his family members being in jail, while once again amazed by the closeness of the two pals.
He had never really thought about what would exactly happen if the two kats were captured and discovered to be the Swat Kats. If they were already being punished by a corrupt system for accidentally crashing a plane, then what would happen to them if they get caught as the masked vigilantes who had pulled one over the Enforcers dozens of times for the past three or so years? And if Chance's dad and brother had gone to prison… The teen could only imagine what was going on in the kat's mind, and started to feel guilty about how reckless he'd been.
Max couldn't stand listening to that crying any longer; he never was a fan of listening to other people crying, which was why he hated funeral so much. Standing up, he quickly walked over to the ladder, climbing it before either kat could notice, trying not to think about another set of crying that was echoing in his mind. He needed to be alone for a while, but knew better than to leave the scrap yard again, so he went to the one spot he'd found that was completely secluded, hidden from prying eyes.
A few minutes after Max had left, Chance had finally calmed down, taking off his helmet and wiping his eyes with his mask. He hadn't cried since… it'd been too many years to count, but he had to admit to himself that he felt better after doing so.
"Better," his best friend asked, giving his pal another quick pat on the back.
"Y-Yeah," the pilot said shakily, slowly standing back up and helping Jake do the same. "I'm good; thanks." He looked around him, noticing Max's absence, the events of the past few minutes finally catching up with him. "Crud… I hit him. And all those things I said…" The tabby winced at the recent memory. "Think he's mad?"
"I'd be," Jake replied honestly, looking over at the ladder. "Think he went far?"
"Check the monitor," the blond kat suggested, both of them heading towards a wall of screens that hung nearby. Hitting a button, they scanned the screens as they came to life, searching for the human before spotting him on the topmost screen. They had cameras covering the whole scrap yard, but they mainly focused on the ones in and surrounding their apartment and garage.
"Want me to talk to him," the cinnamon feline offered, knowing that his friend wasn't big on apologizing.
" … No," the burly mechanic replied, surprising them both, but he looked adamant. "I messed up, and I'll fix it."
The cinnamon kat gave him a quick thumbs up and a small smile. "Good luck, dude."
"Thanks," Chance replied, heading towards the ladder.
The roof was clear on top, and the only place in the scrap yard that didn't smell like crap. Max had found it one day while bored, and while he didn't spend much time up there, he found refuge on the roof, staring up at the stars as he tried to clear his head.
His face still stung from where he'd been punched, but he wasn't mad at the kat; he had sneaked out, nearly gotten killed, and then insulted the only real friends he had in this world, after they had done nothing but been kind to him. If anything, he was mad at himself, and he leaned back against the AC unit, staring up at the (kind of) starry sky, since the city a few miles away prevented most of the stars from being visible. He had no idea where he would live now; for the two kats were surely going to kick him to the curb after lying and attacking them. Maybe he could find an empty barn or something to hide out in, because he doubted that Johnny would be able to help him (or even willing to, after tonight).
The teen got a full ten minutes of solitude before he heard, "Nice night, isn't it?"
He jumped, whirling around to find Chance crouched on the ledge nearby, having changed out of his flight fatigues and into his mechanics uniform; they always changed before leaving their layer, so no "accidental" visitors would see them without their masks on. The only way onto the roof was via a ladder on the side of the building, and with his padded feet, it was no big deal that the human hadn't heard him sneak up.
Max quickly turned away, looking back at the sky. "If you've come to yell at me some more or punch me again, can it at least wait until tomorrow morning?"
"I'm here to apologize," the kat commented, climbing off the ledge and walking over to where the human sat, sitting down next to him. "Your face hurt much?"
"No," he lied, avoiding the pilot's gaze, scooting a few inches away from him. "What about you? I think I managed to hit your forehead."
"Oh yeah," the blond feline replied, feeling the welt on his face. "Well… I've been through worse."
"Join the club."
" … Wanna talk about what just hap-"
"No."
They sat in some silence after that, the burly pilot gathering his thoughts, trying to figure out how to proceed. He wished he'd at least asked Jake for advice on how he should start to apologize; his friend was better with the whole feelings/apology thing. Finally, he decided that if he was going to do this right, he might as well be completely honest.
"My… my Dad and older brother weren't good kats," Chance started awkwardly, staring up at the stars as well, his face somber and serious; Max continued to do the same, his own face unreadable. "They were part of a gang in Megakat City, and they nearly got me to join them, despite my Mom's attempts to stop us. At first, they'd only joined to get us enough money to have a place to stay and food on the table, but they grew to like the violent tactics of earning money too much, and I, idolizing them, soon started to want to follow in their footsteps.
"They… they were caught robbing a department store, and since they'd robbed several dozen in the past, they received 20 years to life. That… that was ten years ago, and I haven't talked to them or gone to see them since the trial. It crushed my mom, and she died about a year later, meaning I had to move in with my Uncle and his family. They helped put me on the right path, but I promised…" He took a shaky breath, running a hand through the fur on top of his head. "I promised my mom that I would be good, and that I would do good for everykat. That was the final push that led me to improve my grades and apply for the Enforcer Academy, where I met Jake."
He looked at the human. "Everything I do, is in order to keep that promise to my mom. Sure, bein' an undercover vigilante fighter pilot is breaking the law, but if it means that less kats have to suffer at the hands of criminals, and… if I could somehow give kittens a positive role model to look up to, they won't go down the wrong path, and Megakat City would become a better place. But since our secret being exposed would result in us going to jail…" He sighed. "I just can't go there. I can't, and I know I went too far with yelling at you, and I'm sorry."
Max was silent for a few moments, taking in the story he had just heard, before finally speaking up. "I… I had no idea about your…" He couldn't get out the words, and quickly changed tracks, too uncomfortable to talk about the tabby's family. "I'm sorry for sneaking out, and-"
"Nah, I'm sorry for snapping at you," the blond kat replied, glad that he now had an easy segway into his own apology. "I… I've always struggled with my temper, and that same temper is what sent my dad and brother to prison. Even though I was upset, I shouldn't have attacked you like that."
"It-It's okay," the teen said numbly, staring at his feet and bandaged leg. "I forgive you, it's fine."
Chance frowned, noticing the teen's subdued demeanor; he could sense that the kid was sorry, but that he was far from fine. "If you're still upset with what I said to you earlier about not trusting you and about you keeping secrets, I'm sorry that I-"
"Don't apologize for that," Max interrupted, still not looking at the mechanic. "Because I am guilty of lying to you two, and you have every right not to trust me; especially after what happened tonight."
"But you are a good kid," the large feline insisted. "Look, I get that you wanted to go outside; we'd hate being cooped up inside all the time, and we went through the same thing when we were first banned from flying, but that doesn't make you a bad guy."
The human sighed, looking at the blond kat. "You were right about me keeping secrets, but you don't know me, or what I am."
"Then enlighten me," Chance replied, slightly annoyed at how cryptic and secret the teen was acting. Sighing, Max leaned back, now lying on the ground and staring up at the sky above him, silent for a few minutes before speaking.
"Our family was happy, a long time ago. That picture of my family in my wallet; that's one of the last happy memories I have of my family, and that was about seven or eight years ago. Of course, there were good memories after that, but they pale in comparison to that one.
"My dad was an Olympic gymnastics champion before an injury took him out of the sport completely. He settled down, met my mom, and my older sisters and I were born. When my sisters and I were little, around five or six, he made all of us take gymnastics classes, just so we would know the basics, and hoping that one of us would like the sport enough to continue it. I was the only one that enjoyed it, and good at it, so after that first year, I started taking it after school, and my dad was more than happy to check up on my progress. He… he even made me a mini set of bars and a pommel horse in the garage, so I could keep practicing with him, and he would give me pointers.
"Over the years, however, things got more difficult between my dad and I. It… seemed that the better I did at competitions and stuff, the harder he pushed me, trying to make me better than he ever was. Maybe it was out of love; maybe it was out of guilt. Whichever reason, he started pushing me more and more to practice, barely giving me time for school and church. My mom noticed this; my sisters were in college by this point, but she couldn't convince him to ease up on me.
"Finally, when I was fourteen, I snapped; I couldn't take his constant drilling, and he was taking the fun out of the sport I once loved. One… one night, my dad and I got into a huge fight about it; I wanted to quit, he wouldn't let me, and we went back and forth until he finally left, going out for a drive to clear his head. I… I told him… I told him as he left that he could go and die for all I cared, if I meant that I got to quit gymnastics." His eyes watered slightly as he told the story, but he didn't cry; those tears had fallen years ago, and all he felt now was deep guilt and regret.
"Ac-According to the cops, he'd been driving a little too fast down a street, and when the person suddenly braked in front of him, his injury prevented him from braking in time, and in an effort to avoid hitting them, he steered the car off to the side, heading straight into a ditch… Instantly died on impact. The cops came around our huose at one in the morning, and when my mom and I had heard what had happened…" He quickly dried his eyes, determined not to think about that pained scream his mother had let loose when she'd learned that her husband had died.
"I know…" he continued shakily, "I know it wasn't my fault that he died, and that it was all just an unavoidable accident, but I was destroyed by the guilt and sadness, that my life took a radical change. I ended up staying in gymnastics, more out of guilt than of the love of the sport; that had disappeared years ago. I… started going to church less and less, using my sport as an excuse to not go, and eventually, I stopped all together, which made my mom angry, but I ignored her. I probably should have stayed in church, and I… I regret leaving the faith now more than anything; if I could, I would go back to church right now… to find healing, I guess, and to apologize to God that I was being such an idiot.
"The college I was going to had me there on a full-ride scholarship as a gymnast, and before ending up here, I was going to early morning practices followed by school and then my job as a custodian. I… I wasn't happy, where I was, but gymnastics was all that I knew, and I couldn't just drop out of school; I needed the education in case gymnastics fell through.
"But then," Max continued, still staring at the few stars that twinkled against the inky blackness, "I ended up here. Met you two. Of course, I was terrified at first, and wondered if I was in hell or some sort of eternal punishment because of what I'd done in the past, but then you guys gave me something that I hadn't had in a long time… I… was happy again. I've enjoyed hanging out with you guys, training with you guys, and just… not being forced to do something just because I was good at it. Yeah, I want to go home and all of that, but… I'm kinda glad that I ended up here, because I wasn't constantly depressed anymore."
Chance stared at Max in shock, deeply moved by the teen's confession. He wasn't sure what to expect when he finally learned the human's backstory, but he wasn't expecting this. He could only imagine doing something you hated out of guilt for years, just to appease someone else; it was like being controlled by a puppet, in the kat's eyes, and he felt another pang of guilt about punching the young man.
Meanwhile, Max gave another sigh, his face blank and morose, though his eyes reflected the sky above. "I'm sorry for lying to you both. I really am. I just… I didn't want anyone to pity me or look at me as a murderer, and-"
"You're not a murderer," Chance said firmly, slightly startling the boy from his monologue. "And we don't see you as one; I don't see you as one. You didn't kill your dad, just like how my dad and brother didn't kill my mom."
"I know that," the teen snapped, now looking at the kat, who still stood nearby. "But that doesn't make me feel any better! The last thing I said to him was that I hoped he would die! Imagine his last moments, thinking that was what I thought of him!"
"Now you don't think that's true," the tabby continued. "You were both speaking in the heat of the moment… you didn't really mean what you'd said."
Max covered his face in his hands, a low growl escaping his mouth. "I know! I know! I know all of this, but I've still felt shitty ever since he died, and I was just feeling worse and worse until I came here! Just…" He sobered, lowering his hands and finally looking at the pilot. "I know that y'all probably don't trust me; you made that pretty clear, and I don't blame you." The burly feline opened his mouth to object but the human spoke over him. "But I really am sorry for sneaking out tonight … and for not telling you about Johnny sooner…" The teen looked down at the purple sweater he still wore, wondering how he was supposed to return it.
"How did he find out about you," the blond kat queried, and Max proceeded to tell him about the day that Johnny had discovered him in the garage, and had given him his number in the hopes of getting a TV interview.
"But he doesn't know about your Swat Kat secret," the young man finished quickly, "and I didn't know what else to do that day; you two were gone, and how was I supposed to explain who I was?"
"We're not mad," Chance said kindly. "And we weren't mad earlier… just disappointed, but I think you're disappointed with yourself as well." The human nodded. "But next time, let us know if someone sees ya; they may not be as understanding or nice as Johnny, and we can deal with them. What about Ann Gora?"
"She doesn't know; we told her that I was a friend of Johnny's, and that I was wearing a costume for Halloween."
"Wait, why are you wet," the blond tabby asked, just noticing the human's wet hair, along with his pants. "Did you take a shower before coming up here?"
"Oh… Mac and Molly threw me off the pier they kidnapped us from before taking us to that warehouse."
"WHAT," the kat exclaimed, knowing how bad of a swimmer Max was, and imagining how terrified the human must had been.
"Yeah; they rescued me before I could drown when they realized they could get more gold with me alive. They don't know I'm not a kat, either."
"If I'd known," Chance growled, cracking his knuckles, "they wouldn't have lasted as long as they did in that fight!" His expression then seemed to pale as he realized something else. "Did they do anything else to hurt you?" His gaze now fell on the hastily bandaged leg, his eyes going wide. "Why those-"
"Dude, I'm fine, chill out," the human said, now a little overwhelmed from the support he was receiving from the Swat Kat. He had fully expected that they would kick him out, but it was apparent now that they were going to let him stay, and even continue to be his friend. "I'm just tried, is all."
"That makes sense," the blond kat cut in, checking his digital watch. "It's nearly 10:30. How about we delay tomorrow morning's training until the next day; we can sleep in tomorrow, if you'd like. But you're not going to bed until we treat that leg of yours.
"Y-Yeah, that's fine," Max replied, accepting the kat's hand that helped him to his feet. "Are… are you sure about… I mean… I lied to you guys and-"
"Hey," Chance said, putting a friendly hand on the teen's shoulder. "We know what you're going through, and the last thing we're gonna do is kick you out." Max nodded, finally feeling better for the first time that evening. After nearly being drowned, kidnapped (or katnapped) and then getting into a fight with a Swat Kat, he was relieved to know that he was forgiven, and that he didn't have to find some new place to stay in this world.
"Thanks," he said gratefully, giving the feline a small smile.
"Besides," the kat added, grinning at the human, "we're the good guys, remember?" The teen gave him a pointed look, clearing his throat and consciously scratching the welt on his face, and the feline winced a little. "Yeah… sorry about that; let's get you some ice for that before it bruises, along with some fresh bandages. But that was an impressive Judo flip," he added, heading towards the ladder. "I don't recall either of us teaching you that."
"Took a self-defense class at the YMCA once," Max explained, climbing over the ledge and staring down the first few rungs.
"Funny, that's where I took my self-defense classes as a teen," the blond kat replied, climbing down after the human. "Anything else we should know about you," he added.
"Well… all humans have hidden super powers, like shooting lasers from our eyes."
"Really?!"
"Nope," the human laughed, ducking slightly to avoid the tabby's tail as it whipped towards his face jokingly. "Watch it, Fluffytail, or I'll break that like a Kit Kat!"
"What's a Kit Kat?"
Max laughed at that. "Trust me when I say that you might not want to know what a Kit Kat is, concerning your tail!" The teen had never really had a best friend before, but, as Chance offered him a can of milk before going to get some bandages, he realized that this must be what it felt like.
And he couldn't help smiling at the thought.
