Hey, Readers! Glad to hear that so many of y'all are enjoying the story so far! I am especially thankful for the support I've received (including a recent guest review; shout out to you, Unknown, for your review!), and it pushes me to continue writing.

Well, here's another chapter of short stories about life with Max and the Swat Kats! I address different issues and themes here, including part of Max's training, plans with Max's secret, and Movie Night Part Two! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter; the next one may focus on Thanksgiving, since that's coming up in their time, as well as I might write another bit from Johnny's perspective, if y'all want me to write one. And for those who want to see the Mayor, Callie, Feral and Felina, their time is coming. SOON!

Peace out for now, enjoy this chapter, favorite, follow, drop a review, and have a great day!

Also, all names, business and so on with movies and TV shows and songs (including lyrics) celebrities and pop culture references (there's too many of them for me to write down individually) in these stories, I do NOT own ANY of them in ANY way, shape or form.

-aggiefrogger


I'm No Birdy Sidekick

"So… I'm basically like Robin from Batman now with this thing?"

"Not necessarily; besides, don't you mean Katman and Swallow-"

"No."

Max eyed the metal staff on the worktable in front of him. It was about four feet long, sleek, though it had a grip in the center for him to hold, along with small buttons around the grip. Upon learning that he was a gymnastics pro, Jake had come up with the idea of a bo staff, which he could use like a pole vault to help him reach higher places, as well as a weapon he could use while flipping mid-air.

"I'm just saying that Robin uses a staff in some comics because he was a trapeze artist," the teen started. "Just because I did gymnastics doesn't mean I have to fight with this; I thought that's what the Glovatrix's are for. And I don't see how a stick's gonna help me in a fight compared to a gauntlet that shoots missiles."

"But it can extend up to twelve feet, and can hold up to 300 lbs," the cinnamon kat added. "Perfect if you need to create a quick bar to hold onto, in case the floor gives way to a pit of spikes."

"That's a thing here," the human asked incredulously, adding that to the mental list he was making of how similar this world was to a cartoon.

"Yep. And if you press here-" He pressed one of the buttons, the purple one, and the ends cackled with electricity before the kat turned it off. "About 25,000 volts; less than the average Enforcer stun-gun, but enough to shock an enemy or short-circuit a robot."

"What about the other buttons?"

"Oh, this one turns it into a glider; we'll show you how that works later, and this one shoots out a tranq dart; it can only hold three, so be careful. And finally-" He pressed a green button, and the staff came apart into two equal parts. "Now you have two weapons," he grinned. "If you don't want to feel like a gymnast; they're similar to Enforcer batons. It still has some kinks to work out, but it should be good to go in a few more weeks."

"Nice," the teen complimented, lifting the two parts, sticking them back together, a clicking noise locking in place; separate, they reminded him of those club-like sticks that police officers sometimes carried. The weapon was heavy, but not too heavy, and was perfectly balanced. "Thanks, man! But how will I learn to-"

"Don't worry, I'll teach ya! I've built a practice dummy for you to train with."

"Okay… I still say it makes me look like Robin or Swallow or-"

"I haven't made your uniform yet, but I could add a pair of tights if you think you'll be so similar to him!"

"NO!" The tabby gave the human an amused smile as Max blushed. "I… I'll stick with the staff, if that's okay."

"Fine with me!"


Of Course You Sound Better When You're Singin' Alone

Max was busy cleaning the Cyclotron and other land vehicles one afternoon. There was a separate area of the underground bunker that was meant for washing and storing them, since they couldn't wash them above ground, and the Swat Kats were currently out saving the city from some villain (he thought it might be Dr. Viper, but he was pretty sure it was the Pastmaster). He didn't mind, though; he got to play his music on the loudspeaker without any of the felines complaining about how "weird" it sounded (Jake had rigged the speaker so that Max's "future phone" could plug into it).

The teen hummed along with the music as he scrubbed the windshield of the bike, the sound of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone filled the underground bunker. His music playlist was very diverse; he listened to Oldies, Rock, Pop, Modern (which was now Future, he guessed), and even a few show-tunes (his older sister had a playlist that he followed, and he listened to it every once in a while whenever he missed her). He dunked the rag back into the soapy water as the song reached it's chorus.

"BUT SINCE YOU BEEN GOOOOOONE," he sang along, dancing a little as he started on the side of the bike. "I CAN BREATHE FOR THE FIRST TIME! I'M SO MOVIN' ON, YEAH YEAH!" His voice wasn't good, but it was decent, allowing him to hit the high notes with some skill. He continued to wash the large bike, passionately singing along with the music, dancing a little in place.

Meanwhile, Razor and T-Bone, having arrived back from defeating Dr. Viper, had stopped in the doorway of the room, staring open-mouthed, but a little amused, at the sight of the human singing and dancing a little while he worked. They didn't recognize the song, but the teen was a surprisingly good singer, and they simply stared for a few minutes, the young man seeming not to have noticed them.

" … Should we say somethin'," Chance whispered, stiffing a laugh as Max sang into the rag.

"Let's wait for the song to finish; no sense embarrassing him," Jake answered.

"Yeah," his friend agreed, both of them still watching Max clean the Cyclotron for a few more minutes before the large tabby spoke up again. "But… remember that hazing from the Enforcer Academy days?"

" … Yeah."

"We ended up okay, mostly… But remember all those pranks we pulled on each other and the other cadets?" He gave his friend a pleading look, and the cinnamon kat finally cracked, nodding and turning back towards his work station.

"Fine, I gotta work on some new blueprints for the buzz saw missiles; but don't scare him too bad!"

The burly pilot grinned. "You know me!" And with that, he started sneaking towards the teen, who was so engrossed with the song, he didn't notice the Swat Kat. Jake, meanwhile, made his way towards his workshop; he didn't want to be there to see what happened, or face the wrath of the human.

There was a saying that most moms taught their young kittens, and it was one that Jake's mom had told him and his siblings: "Don't go yanking somekat's tail if you're slower than them." It basically meant to not mess with other kats unless you're willing to accept the consequences. And even though Chance was fast, the human was faster, and pretty soon, the hanger was filled with the sounds of shouting from an enraged and embarrassed Max, chasing after a terrified Chance while Jake calmly worked on the weapons.


Movie Night Part Deux

"Thank God it's Movie Night," Max murmured, watching the bag of popcorn spin around in the microwave while the two mechanics searched the teen's laptop for a movie to watch; they preferred his future movies with more intricate plots and diverse genres than their monster movies and horror flicks that creepily mirrored their own battles with villains. After a long week of training, along with another villain defeated, the three were ready to unwind for the night, with the promise of sleeping in the next morning.

"What are those letters next to each title," Chance asked as Jake scrolled through the movie library.

"Those are ratings," the teen explained, taking the hot bag out of the microwave and transferring its contents into a bowl. "They give you an idea of what age group the movie is appropriate for. G is for all ages PG stands for parental guidance needed, PG-13 is ages 13 and up, and R is 17 and older; there's this whole group in our world that rates movies based on their language, sexual content, and other stuff."

"'Parental Guidance,'" Jake asked.

"That means that a parent should be present, or at least see if the movie's appropriate for their kids to watch. But some parents don't really care; I remember our old neighbors letting their five-year-old son watch rated-R movies."

The two felines gave him a shocked look. "That's… that's messed up."

"Yeah, but perfectly legal, since his parents were with him. But yeah, they're pretty irresponsible." He brought the bowl of popcorn over, having poured a box of the kat's equivalent of M&Ms into the popped kernels. "Y'all chosen a movie yet?" They'd already finished the Harry Potter series, so now they were observing all other movies

"'The Devil Wears Prada,'" Chance asked.

"Ooh, that's a good comedy!"

"'Fiddler on the Roof?'"

"Musical. Pretty good as well."

"'Schindler's List?'"

"Really sad and super long, but worth watching."

"Why do you have a whole section labeled 'Wes Anderson' movies," the blond tabby asked. "Who's he?"

"One of the greatest directors of all time," the human replied. "Along with Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron. Anderson's style and cinematography is so unique, it's basically it's own film genre."

"Let's watch one of those, then… 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.'" The cinnamon kat looked at his pal. "Isn't that that Roald Dahl book?"

"Roald Dahl exists in your universe," Max asked. "And he has a normal name?"

"Well his middle name is 'Kattig-'"

"Anyway, so… foxes exist in this universe. As animals?"

"Of course!"

Max nodded; it was hard, keeping track of which animals did and didn't exist in this universe. It was apparent that besides household cats, some kats in this universe were also the type of kats that were seen in the wild, like tigers and lynxes. "Okay… then let's watch it; I mean, if you guys want to. It's a pretty good movie that captures the feel of the book perfectly. It's also stop motion animation-"

"We'll watch it, but what's that stop-motion thingy?"

"Basically, they use clay figures, and they take thousands and millions of pictures of these figures, moving each one slightly between each shot, and putting them together to make it look like they're moving."

"Wow! That's impressive!"

"Wait until you see the movie," the teen assured them, sitting on the couch as Jake pressed play, each kat sitting on either side of him on the couch. "It's amazing!"

It was an amazing movie; the wide, symmetrical shots, the witty banter of the characters, the long lists and explanations of things that didn't seem related but somehow were, and the minute attention to detail blew the kats away. They were even more impressed when they learned that everything, including the eyes and hair, was made by human hands, and that a single shot could take up to a week or more to film. Judging the length of the movie, they could only imagine how long it took them to film the whole movie.

Besides watching the movie, the two kats also watched Max watch the movie. The human was obviously a huge fan of the movie; laughing loudly at the funny moments, focusing intently on the serious parts, and even humming along with some of the music from the score. They wondered how many movies the teen had watched in his lifetime, if he knew so much about how they were made and so on.

Meanwhile, Max watched the two felines, watching to see if they liked the movie. They both seemed interested in it; there were some parts that they asked Max to pause and explain what was happening, or just to get another view of something they'd caught a glimpse of, but they seemed to enjoy it. Chance ate most of the popcorn, and Jake had to make more in the middle of the film, but they seemed to enjoy the film, even expressing their wishes to watch the rest of the Anderson movies Max had on his laptop.

All in all, it was just another movie night, but those hours spent watching movies as friends were some that the three would cherish for the rest of their lives.


How to Avoid Noogies Like A Swat Kat (Or Swat Human)

Chance and Max faced each other on the training mat, hands raised in defensive stances. At the end of every daily lesson/practice, they ended with a sparring match between the two (once Max had learned enough to spar). If Max won, he got to shower first, if not, then he had to do extra push ups the next morning.

Pausing for a few moments, the human made the first move, darting forward and aiming his fist at the kat's face. The large feline quickly side-stepped, twisting around and aiming a kick at the human. The teen jumped out of the way at the last moment, and aimed a sweeping kick at Chance's legs. It worked, and the blond tabby fell with a grunt, but he managed to grab the human by the leg, yanking him off his feet. Now with both of them on the ground, they grabbed each other at the same time, now starting to wrestle with one another.

Since the two of them were around the same size, they remained kneeling, arms around each other's necks, trying to force the other to bend in submission. Eventually, however, the Swat Kat (not only being heavier and having more stamina on the teen), managed to push the young man back, landing on top of him before twisting the human so that he held him in a tight headlock. Max tried in vain to break free from the grip, spitting stray fur from his mouth, but the kat's hold was adamant.

"Give up," the pilot asked.

"N-N-Nah," the human gasped, trying to get enough air into his lungs, his mind racing frantically for an idea for him to win. It was hard to breath, and the lack of oxygen to his brain made him panik slightly. He continued to struggle, gasping for air, before eventually going limp thirty or so seconds later.

"Crud," the tabby grumbled, releasing the boy and turning him over; he didn't think that he was choking him too hard to knock him out, but the young man's unresponsiveness proved otherwise. The teen's head lolled slightly, and he was barely breathing. He checked the pulse (which the boy had), and tried shaking him awake, but to no avail; it probably wasn't the best way to wake him up, but he wasn't sure what to do.

Chance cursed again, wondering how the heck he was supposed to explain to Jake how he'd nearly killed their recruit, when the boy suddenly sprang to life, flipping backwards and kicking the feline in the face. Falling back, the kat was shocked when the human soon had him in a headlock (though it wasn't as tight or as proper as his own).

"Do you give up," Max gasped, grinning a little.

The burly mechanic gave a laugh after getting over his shock, nodding his head. "Good job, pal! Very smart, pretendin' to be unconscious like that!"

"Actually," the teen said, releasing the kat and standing up, "I kinda blacked out for a few seconds, but I came to pretty quickly. But at least I don't get a noogie this time; and I get to shower first!" Chance's noogies were not to be trifled with, as the human had learned the hard way whenever he lost a fight with the kat.

"Yeah, but it worked; ya got the incentive to beat me, and ya did! But c'mon, let's get some grub; I'm starvin'!" He held out a hand, and Max took it, ready to help him up, but soon yelped as the kat pulled him into another headlock (though not a tight one), and started to give him a noogie.

"CHANCE, STOP," the teen cried, trying to wriggle free as the feline laughed, standing up and taking the young man with him, still continuing the dreaded noogie."C'MON, MAN! I BEAT YOU FAIR AND SQUARE!"

"Yeah," the Swat Kat chuckled, "but by now it's a tradition; it'd be a crime not to do this!"

"UURGH," the human groaned, stopping his struggling, deciding to wait it out. He only hoped he didn't end up with a bald spot by the time he became a Swat Kat; he didn't want to go around looking like Friar Tuck.


Home Alone (Short But Sweet)

Max was watching Chance and Jake (or T-Bone and Razor) on their TV set, taking notes on their flight patterns as they fought a dinosaur that Pastmaster had summoned from the past, when he heard a familiar honking noise outside.

"Damnit," he muttered, turning off the television and dashing to the wall to turn off the light switch. This wasn't the first time that he'd gotten a surprise visit from Burke and Murray, but it still scared him every time. Sure, he could now beat them up if they tried to attack him, but they'd probably call the Enforcers, and then the next thing he'd know, he'd be stuck in a cell with his friends, all of them heading to jail (or, in Max's case, to a lab). By now, he knew what to do, and pulling out the necessary sheet of paper and putting it on the table, he made his way to the underground lair, making sure that the entrance was covered by the rug.

Once down below, he made his way to a large wall of screens, which he turned on, revealing hidden cameras that seemed to cover every square inch of the garage and apartment, including the surrounding outside. Sitting down on the chair, he leaned back as he watched the kat's truck dump more metal outside the entrance to the garage.

"Still a dick move," the teen muttered, watching as the smaller brother got out of the car, walked into the garage, and eventually found one of the pre-written notes on the table, lying and saying that Jake and Chance were out helping some kat tow their car. Now the teen leaned forward, waiting with bated breath to see if the kats would either stay or go; sometimes, they would go into the apartment, eat and drink some of the Swat Kats' food, and watch their TV.

Fortunately, today, the two junk kats didn't stay long, and quickly left, kicking up dirt onto the pile of scraps. To be safe, he waited a few more minutes, in case they came back to get something forgotten, but then made his way back upstairs, wondering if his friends had defeated those dinosaurs yet.

"Someday," he muttered, turning back on the TV, "I'll get those two back."


-Other To Me

Jake and Chance sat on the roof late one night, drinking celebratory cans of milk after taking down Chop Shop, who had escaped from Alkatraz a day prior, sending him back to the island prison via the Enforcers. Of course, Feral had taken all the credit for the capture, but the quick hug that Callie had given each of the Swat Kats made it all worth it.

"Another day, another criminal scum in the slammer," Chance said, taking another sip of his third drink (they were splitting a six pack).

"Yeah; you'd think that someone who's escaped from Alkatraz seven times would wise up and just stay put," Jake added.

"Or that the jail would improve their security," the blond tabby added. "There's too many problems around here to fix, and we're stuck with a mayor that just wants to play stinkin' golf all day! Remind me how he got elected, again?"

"Everyone else dropped out right before Voting Day," the cinnamon kat said somberly. "They couldn't handle the problems, either."

"At least they were honest, though."

"Just be glad that Callie's there; at least something gets done whenever she's around!"

"Yep. Speaking of which, Jake, I've been thinkin'-"

"Don't hurt yourself," his friend jested, blocking the playful swipe at his face.

"Watch it. But, bein' serious... I was thinking about... maybe we should tell Callie about Max."

Silence followed this statement. It was true that Chance rarely came up with the big ideas, since it was Jake's forte, but the burly kat couldn't tell if his friend was for or against the idea.

He continued. "I mean… she's the Deputy Mayor, so she knows plenty of kats in high places… ones that could help him get home, if that's even possible. Besides, she's somekat we can trust with his secret, without worrying about Enforcer interference."

"I hear what you're saying, Chance," Jake started, "and I've thought of this too, but with every possible scenario, there's the risk of our secret being revealed. We can't just tell her that he's been staying with two mechanics she's known for years for the past two months; they would've told her sooner, since they're not supposed to be as smart as the Swat Kats. Also, it might be suspicious if they hadn't contacted the Enforcers sooner upon discovering the human, and she might get suspicious or even call the Enforcers herself, if she thinks Max'd done anything to us.

"Yes, we could lie and say that we just found Max, and cut our mechanic alter-egos out of this, but then Max would have to be a scared, frightened creature from another world with no knowledge of this one, and he wouldn't trust anykat, since we would be monsters to him. If we do that, then the Enforcers will definitely get involved, since it'd make sense that he'd try to fight back, and since they wouldn't know that he lacks powers or any supernatural abilities. The only other option is to tell say that we've been keeping the human with us Swat Kats the whole time, but since that kamerakat knows about Max, he's bound to find out our secret, and working for Ann Gora… it'd be a short time before the Enforcers and the Media come for us."

The burly kat nodded, thinking over the arguments, not finding a flaw in any of them; Jake was always the one who solved the solutions. "So… we're stuck with him, unless we can keep Johnny quiet about our secret," the burly mechanic asked.

The smaller kat gave him a look. "'Stuck with him?' You don't want him here?"

"No, no," Chance said quickly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I didn't mean it like that; I like havin' him here, don't get me wrong, and he's like a little br-" He suddenly cut off, trying to hide the awkwardness with a cough and another sip of his milk.

"Like a what, Chance?"

"Nuthin'," he replied quickly; too quickly.

Jake sighed, looking up at the sky, remaining silent for a few moments; of course, looking at the past month, it was obvious how the large kat felt towards the human. However, he decided not to say anything, not wanting to embarrass his friend, and tried not to think about the three loving siblings he had while his friend only had one, who was currently in Alkatraz with their dad and Chop Shop.

"So I think we both want him to stay," the cinnamon feline continued on, as if he hadn't heard the last comment.

" … Yeah," the large tabby muttered, quickly downing the last of his milk.

"But we need to remember; even though we're training him to be a Swat Kat and letting him live here, our number-one priority should be to help him get home." He gave his best friend a look. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah," Chance muttered, crumpling the can and throwing it onto a bare patch of the roof. "I'm goin' downstairs." Getting up, he quickly made his way down the ladder, heading down towards the underground training gym; he had a strong urge to hit something. Unfortunately, someone had beat him to it.

Upon entering the lair, he heard the sound of fists repeatedly hitting the vinyl covering of the punching bag, and looking through the doorway, saw Max pounding repeatedly at the bag. The human's form was poor, and he grunted in frustration, looking like he was trying to knock the sack off the hook. Off to the side, the human was playing some song on his phone as he worked out.

"You're doin' it wrong," the kat finally spoke up, causing the teen to jump as he stepped into the light. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten everything I taught you about punchin'; that's basic stuff!"

Panting, the human wiped some sweat off his brow, going over to the bench and pausing the music. "Kinda… but I figured… I'd figure it out… eventually. Plus… you two were busy... fighting Chop Shop..."

"Thought you went to bed," the feline continued, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, I did, but I woke up a while ago, thought I'd come down and wait for y'all, but when I saw the jet, I was already up, so I decided to try to tire myself out." He took a swig from his water bottle, finally stopping his gasping.

"Well, since I'm here," the kat answered, walking towards the punching bag, "then I might as well refresh your memory about proper punching technique."

"Great, another lesson," the boy muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, you'll thank me for this when you clobber some bad guy so hard that you knock his tail out of joint," the Swat Kat said prophetically. "Besides, it's good to know how to punch properly."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Miyagi."

"Who?"

"It's a compliment."

"Oh. Good."

After that, they spent the next half hour working on punching, the Swat Kat helping the human with his form and execution, a sense of pride in his chest. Of course, what he'd nearly said out loud, but he now felt as he watched Max pound the punching bag with superb accuracy, was that he felt like a big brother to the human. Of course, Chance's only brother wasn't the best roll model, and watching the teen grow stronger and smarter under his and Jake's tutelage was satisfying, and he felt like what a big brother should feel like (at least in his imagination). Even if the human never saw their friendship like that, he was fine, content with knowing that he was helping somekat, or someone, else.

Max, meanwhile, was having similar feelings; having grown up with only sisters, and having his… interesting… relationship with his dad, he'd never had someone his gender to hang out with that wasn't obsessed with gymnastics. He wondered if his friendship and growing trust in the blond tabby was what it was like to have an older brother, but he doubted that the kat viewed their friendship was like that. Even if he didn't the human was fine with that; they were still friends, and that was important.