Good afternoon, Readers! aggiefrogger here!

Here's another chapter, and it focuses on the Holiday of Thanksgiving! I know, I know, I just posted a chapter last week, and some of y'all may think that I'm posting too much, but I decided to post this, since I'm going on a Ten-Day trip to Italy next week.

In this chapter, Max celebrates Thanksgiving in an interesting way, and learns a little more about Jake and Chance's extended families. Also, Callie makes an appearance in this chapter, finally! I know most of you were wondering where she was, and she's gonna have her own role to play in this story I'm concocting! Also, Johnny will be appearing more in future chapters, so keep your eyes peeled for more chapters!

I hope y'all enjoy this next addition to the story, and I hope that y'all had a radical Halloween and All Saints Day!

-aggiefrogger


New Things to be Thankful For

Max tried his best not to scream with delight as the Turbokat went into a dive, his stomach dropping as the plane sped through the air. Chance grinned from the front seat, taking it out of its nosedive and doing a quick barrel roll.

Every week, the Swat Kat took him flying around Megakat City, helping him get adjusted to the G-Force, as well as testing out the third seat they'd built up behind Jake's chair; there was already a small seat back there for when Callie rode in the jet, but they made it larger and added a better seat belt for the human. They weren't going fast enough to make the human sick, but they were still going pretty fast. The teen had mentioned riding roller coasters, which probably explained why he often laughed with glee as they flew circles in the air, and why he was already used to a couple G's. They also had hooked up Max's phone to the speakers, and were listening to rock and roll as they flew over the city.

"Have y'all ever seen the movie Top Gun or whatever you call that one pilot movie in your universe," the teen asked over the music.

"Of course! That's Jake and I's favorite movie," the tabby responded. "It's what inspired me to become a pilot!"

"I figured as much."

"You did not!"

"True… but I figured as much."

"Okay, Mr. Medium, let's head back to the lair."

"Copy that." Chance turned the plane away from the city, zooming through the air. "By the way, whenever y'all eject, how do you get your chairs back?"

"Easy; the Enforcers call us or Burke and Murray to pick up their remains, and they eventually get brought to us!"

"You two just have the dumbest luck, don't y'all?"

"Hey, it's a gift!"

They talked like this for the rest of the flight, only pausing for the landing, which scared Max more than flying itself. A hidden tunnel opened up in some part of the junk yard, and they dived down into the dark, somehow not dying on impact, and the teen's knuckles were white against the armrests. Eventually, they screeched to a halt, and the large pilot shut off the jet as Max took off his helmet; they'd modified one of their helmets to fit his head, but it still had holes in the top for kat ears.

"Still a little scaredy kat when landing, eh buddy," the mechanic asked, climbing out of the jet.

"I'm starting to see why Jake spends so much time in his workshop," the human shot back, quickly jumping off the bottom rung of the ladder, managing to avoid a noogie from the feline. "I call the first shower!"

"Chance," Jake called from his workshop before the large tabby could chase after the teen. The cinnamon kat was hard at work when he walked in, tightening a screw on a new Glovatrix.

"I wasn't gonna tackle him again," Chance said good-humoredly. "And if he says I gave him a noogie, it's a lie!"

"Sure," his friend replied sarcastically, turning towards his fellow Swat Kat. "We've got a problem; my mom called, and my sister Savannah has apparently shown up at our house for a surprise visit. Since we don't know if we'll ever see her again, since she's still living overseas, they want me to fly to South Dakata for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow"

The burly kat's eyes went wide. "What? But what about Max? I'm going to my Uncle Bob's tomorrow, and-"

"I know." They both lapsed into silence, their expressions troubled. Thanksgiving, which also existed in the human universe, was a time for family and not being alone. Since Max's family was in another dimension (and another time), Jake had offered to stay with him so he wouldn't be by himself for three days, since Chance had already made plans to visit his family. Now, however, it looked like the human would have to spend the holiday of togetherness alone.

"I could call my Uncle Bob and-" Chance started.

"No," his friend said firmly. "You haven't seen your Uncle in over a year, plus you've already bought your train tickets. And neither of us can bring him with us!"

"Crud," the kat growled, kicking a stray scrap of metal, knocking it across the floor. "Can you try to get out of-"

"You know my mom," Jake answered. "She'd skin me alive if I don't show, and as mechanics, it's not like we have any emergencies that would prevent us from showing. Besides, I haven't seen Savannah since I graduated high school; this may be my last chance to see her for a long time."

"Then go," a voice spoke up, and the two felines whirled around to find Max standing in the door, looking serious, but also a little disappointed.

"I came back to return this," he explained, placing the helmet on a nearby chair. "And… if you haven't seen your family in a while, and you're not sure when you'll see them again, then go."

"But-"

"You both seem to forget that I'm an adult, and perfectly capable of being by myself," the young man replied, scowling a little and crossing his arms. "I'm not some little kid that needs protecting. Besides," he added, "if I were in that situation, I'd go. In fact I am in that situation now; if I had the opportunity to see my family again, I'd go in a heartbeat! Stop pitying me, and go see your families!"

The Swat Kats shared a look, knowing that the human's argument was sound, and that it would be futile to argue back. "Fine," Jake said, smiling a little. "I guess I have a bag to pack."

"So why don't you see your sister often," Max questioned.

"She's actually living overseas; she moved to Clawstria and works in a small town with their study abroad program," he explained. "Margay University; she's a professor of History. I have another brother, Tom, who lives in South Dakata and has a family with three kittens, and my other sister Kathy is still in High school."

"Cool. What about your uncle and cousins, Chance," the human questioned.

The blond tabby was a little thrown off, not expecting the teen to ask about his extended family. "Well, my Uncle Bob's a doctor, and my Aunt Burmilla's a psychologist; Burmilla's my dad's sister. They have three kids; Alicia, the oldest, who's studying to be a nurse, and the twins, Terry and Tobias, are also still in high school."

"Cool."

"What about your family? I mean," he added, hoping he hadn't reminded the young man of the people he may never see again, "you don't have to if-"

"No, it's fine," Max assured him. "I've got two older sisters, as you know, both graduated from college already. Bernadette's the oldest, and she's a nun. Marie's a librarian, and also lives with my mom in Texas. We usually go to my Aunt Camille's for Thanksgiving, since she's the closest family to where we live."

"Are you sure you'll be fine-" Chance started again.

"Dude, chill. Technically, I'm not missing my Thanksgiving; I'm technically not even born yet! Besides, it's only for three days; what could happen?"


Apparently, not a lot when you're stuck inside an apartment/garage with no friends and you can't go outside without causing a panic. Even the seemingly constant attacks on the city were non-existent; did super-villains even celebrate Thanksgiving or other holidays?

Max watch the Manx's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV Thanksgiving morning, hosted by the mayor of Megakat city. He looked pretty wimpy for a mayor, and based on what Jake and Chance had told him, he was very cowardly and cared more about golf than his job. His Deputy Mayor, Callie Briggs, on the other hand, seemed to genuinely care about the well-being of the city, and did most of the work at City Hall. The Swat Kats were so fond of her, in fact, that she had a personal communicator she used to call them whenever there was trouble. Based on how they described her, the two kats obviously liked her, but she seemed to favor Jake whenever she came to fix her car (even from his hiding spot in the garage, it was funny watching the two mechanics try and woo her).

But now, without anyone to hang out with, he tried to amuse himself; he watched TV, read some books the felines had bought for him (it was interesting, reading books with kat characters; he'd misplaced his old library book from college some time ago), and even trained a little in the underground bunker, punching and kicking away at the punching bag. However, it seemed that without either kat there, everything the teen did seemed… incomplete, in a sense. He'd now been with the two kats for so long, that he now considered them good friends, and he started to regret telling them to go see their families, even though it was selfish of him.

Thanksgiving night, Max watched the frozen lasagna meal spin around the microwave; the kats, feeling guilty that he didn't get to enjoy turkey or any of the other classic dishes, had bought him his favorite meals for the three days they would be gone, along with a pumpkin pie (since he'd mentioned it was his favorite). Once again, the young man felt almost guilty about all the two tabbies had done for him, and wished he could do more to help them; he supposed that he could clean the apartment for them before they got back. Sighing a little, he pulled out the steaming hot container, sticking it in the fridge to cool off as he went back to the TV, about to turn it on when he heard a slamming noise come from the garage.

Immediately, he dived underneath the couch, which had a gap large enough for him to slide under, and stared out at the door, trying to think of who it was. His first thought was either Burke or Murray, but they were also supposed to be off for Thanksgiving, according to Jake. Another thought was that it was a customer, but the garage was closed until the following Monday. Then, he even thought it might be Chance or Jake, but he had a communicator from the both of them, and he hadn't heard a peep from them. They wouldn't show up without warning him ahead of time, but Burke and Murray would, so-

The door opened, and the human froze as a pair of tennis shoes appeared in the doorway. Max covered his mouth to muffle his breathing as the foots crept into the apartment, slowly making their way through the living room. Even though he could probably take down the intruder, what would happen when they told the Enforcers about the monster in the Scrap Garage? Even if they didn't find the teen, they might find the Swat Kats' secret lair, and the two mechanics woul be sent to prison. So all he could do was wait until whoever it was-

"Jake? Chance? … Max? Are any of you here?"

The young man's eyes widened at the voice, and growing angry (but also a little confused), he quickly crawled out from underneath the couch, causing the tan kat to give a scream of fear.

"What the hell, man," Max snapped at Johnny, who was still recovering from the human that had emerged from underneath the couch. "What are you doing here?" He quickly walked over to the garage before the feline could answer, peering out to see if anyone else was there, and finding no one; the large garage doors were still shut, and the news van was nowhere in sight. "How'd you even get in; the door was locked."

The kamerakat caught his breath before answering. "Ann… Ann's a whiz at that kinda stuff; working with her… you kinda pick things up."

"But why are you here," the teen repeated, crossing his arms and scowling at the tabby. "Besides nearly scaring me to death!"

"I scared you," the kat replied, starting to grow annoyed. "I'm not the one that came crawlin' out from under the couch! But to answer your question, I came to get my bike fixed; it's been makin' some weird sounds."

"So, upon seeing the closed and locked garage, you decide to, what? Break in, not knowing if I or anyone else was here, and come into our apartment? I know why you were really here; you just wanted to sneak in, see if I was here, and get a story for your nosy girlfriend!"

"That's not true! Yes, I was curious to see if you were still here, but I don't have a camera with me, and I'm not wearin' a wire," he added briefly pulling up his sweater to show that he wasn't carrying a recording device. "I really just came to get my bike fixed!"

"Well, Jake and Chance aren't here, and the garage is closed until Monday morning, so you can leave," the young man snapped back, his nerves starting to calm down. "Sorry if that spoils your plans, but you're supposed to be older than me if you've graduated from college-"

"I'm only 26."

"-And smarter; you know better than to break into someone's home!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Johnny said, exasperated. "And yes, maybe I was a little curious about your well-being, since the last time I saw you your leg was clawed to shreds; especially since you can't go to a hospital! Don't get mad at me for trying to be a good kat!"

They stared at each other for a few moments, each of them reaching a head of how angry they were, neither of them having anything else to say. They hadn't spoken since Halloween, so the teen wasn't sure that they were even friends. Eventually, Max awkwardly turned away, going towards the fridge to grab his now-cooled lasagna, his leg prickling with the ghost of an injury.

"That's what you're eating for dinner," the tan feline commented. "On Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, my family's currently in another dimension and decade, so I couldn't make it home this year," the teen replied sarcastically, grabbing a fork and sitting with his food on the couch.

Johnny winced a little at the answer, scratching his neck. "Oh. I… I forgot."

"Don't worry; I'll get home someday." He picked a little at his food, starting to feel guilty about snapping at the only other kat who knew about him. "What about you? Shouldn't you be with your family?"

"Couldn't swing airfare home this year," the tabby replied solemnly, slowly sitting down on the nearby armchair. "Kamerakats don't get paid much, but I promised my mom I'll come for Christmas."

" … Oh." They both were alone for Thanksgiving, and, knowing the feeling of not being able to see his family, Max felt a little worse about yelling at him earlier. "But what about Ann? Aren't you two-"

"Nah; we decided that it was just something in the moment, went on a coupla dates, but decided to remain friends."

"Okay."

"What about-" He cut off, looking a little embarrassed, as if the question was stupid.

"What?"

"What about… in your universe, I mean… do you humans have…"

"Girls," Max asked, a little amused when the kamerakat flinched, then nodded, still wearing those stupid sunglasses indoors.

" … Yeah… I guess so."

"Yes, we have girls, and they're just as confusing as the girls in your universe. My universe is mostly the same as yours, except it's full of humans like me, and some names are different. Also, I'm from the year 2019; I was born in 2000."

"Woah," Johnny said softly. "So… besides VHS tapes no longer existing, what else has changed?"

"You still remember that? That was nearly two months ago!"

"Of course! VHS tapes are pretty much how we record and watch movies and TV shows; a world without them… it doesn't seem real."

"I assure you, it's real. In fact-" He quickly got up, grabbing his laptop and opening it. "Here's my small collection of movies; I have more on DVDs back home." He couldn't help but grin as he watched the feline's eyes bug out at the sight of his extensive film collection.

"Those… those are all MOVIES," he gaped, staring at each of them. "And this is no small collec-… wait, I recognize some of these titles, kinda! I mean, they're different, but similar."

"Yeah, it's that name thing I was telling you about. Cities, celebrities, book and movie titles… they all have different names here."

"Or your universe is the one with the different names."

"Maybe, but at least some of the basics are the same. We have the same holidays, the same continents, and we've even had the same World Wars."

"You guys had two Megakat Wars," the kamerakat questioned.

"Yeah, but we call them World War One and Two, respectively," Max explained. "And while we're here in Pawmerica, I live in a country called America."

"'America,'" the kat repeated, rolling the foreign word on his tongue.

"Yeah, and it also is composed of fifty states, and-" The young man cut off, realization hitting him. "Are you interviewing me?"

Johnny blinked with surprise, shaking his head. "Nah… we're just talkin'. Like friends, I guess."

"We can't be friends; we barely know each other."

"Yet you called me on Halloween night askin' for a ride," the tabby reminded him, smirking a little as the human's face flushed with embarrassment. "Do all you humans usually go pink when they get embarrassed?"

"No; in middle school, though, they used to call me a flamingo sometimes, since I would always go pink whenever I blushed, and since it embarrassed me, I would only go more pink! And before you throw your tail out of joint," the teen continued as the kamerakat howled with laughter, "y'all probably blush under all that fur of yours! And at least I don't have a tail that goes stiff whenever I'm around Ann!"

The laughing kat sobered up immediately, and a deep blush spread underneath his fur that was fortunately unseen by the human. "Wait, really? Do you think she noticed?"

"Hey, I was just kiddin', man; don't tell me your tails actually-"

"Anyway," the tabby quickly continued, scratching the back of his neck, still embarrassed, "are you usually here by yourself?"

"Sometimes. I mean, I'm an adult; I can handle it. Jake and Chance are both visiting their families for Thanksgiving; they'll be back Sunday morning. They know about you, by the way," he added, finally digging into his lasagna dinner, which wasn't too hot or too cold.

"How? I thought they were out of town on Halloween for a family emergency," Johnny questioned.

Crap, Max thought, carefully swallowing his bite food. "Yeah… they came back earlier than expected, and were waiting for me when the Swat Kats dropped me off. They were pretty pissed at first, but they got over it eventually; it wasn't like they could ground me when I'm already stuck here."

"'Pissed?'"

"Upset," the teen explained, taking another bite of the pasta meal. "But I keep busy; I read, watch TV, help Jake and Chance with their mechanic work when they're here, and I listen to music."

"On that tiny device of yours?"

"My phone," he explained, holding up the device for the feline to see.

"That's a phone," Johnny exclaimed, examining the tiny device.

"Okay," the human said, putting down his meal and turning towards the kat. "Obviously, you have a lot of questions. Right?" The tabby nodded. "Well, I'll answer your questions, but for every question you ask, I get to ask you one in return, since I don't know crap about any other kats besides Jake and Chance; I actually did this with them, and it worked out well for all of our questions. And since you seem to want to be friends, which makes sense, since the woman you love rejected you-" (Johnny shot an angry glare at the human) "-I figure that this will give us the opportunity to do so. And looking at the time," he continued, checking his watch, "it's about seven thirty now, so you better be prepared to sit here for the next two or three hours, 'cause I can guarantee you that we're each gonna think of new questions every few minutes. Sound good?

"Sound… fair," the kat grumbled, still a little miffed by the human's comment. "First question: why are you all friendly one minute but then a jerk the next?"

"Oh, that's just some 21st century humor for ya, buddy."

"So… you insult others?"

"Yep."

"But… you're not insultin' them?"

"Exactly?"

" … So when you say some stuff you mean it-"

"Jokingly; it depends on the tone and delivery. Now for mine: what's your favorite movie?"

"That's easy: Katablanca. Humphrey Bengal and Ingrid Birman, 1942."

"Nice. We have that movie too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but we call it Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Came out the same year."

"Woah."

"Dude, if you think that's cool, wait 'till I tell you about Alfred Hitchcock films, though Chance told me you know him as Alfred Highlander!"

"No way! I wrote my senior thesis on his films! Are you a movie buff?"

"Heck yeah!"

They went back and forth like this for the next two hours, Johnny even accepting a can of milk from the human, both asking and listening to one another's questions. It wasn't an ideal Thanksgiving for either of them, but they both secretly agreed that it was better than spending it alone in their respective homes. Besides, they started to realize how much they had in common, like how they both had two older sisters, loved old movies, and even the same taste in older music. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, they were both tired, and Johnny left to go home, both of them saying their farewells like good friends, but not before Max asked him for another favor...


Sunday afterwards, Max and the two mechanics were getting ready for a movie night; the two mechanics had arrived earlier that day, and fortunately, weren't too tired from traveling to not watch a movie (they were so used to flying, jet-lag had no affect on them, and Chance had slept on his overnight train). They were relieved that the teen had been fine by himself, and promised him that they'd stay together for Christmas.

"What're we watchin' tonight," Chance asked, putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Not sure yet, but I did wanna tell you something," Max answered, looking over at the clock on the wall.

"Go ahead," Jake replied, fiddling with the TV, trying to fix the picture.

"Okay… remember how we said we'd be honest with one another, since we're roommates and comrades and all?"

"Sure!"

"Good. Do you guys remember that kamerakat that knows I exist?"

"... Yeah."

"Would it… would it be okay if I, or we, I guess, Invited him over for a movie night sometime?"

The two kats looked at one another, confused by this sudden request.

"I mean," the young man continued, "he's the only other kat who knows I exist and… I dunno… I kinda want to talk to someone that's not a Swat Kat? No offence to you two; you've been nothing but awesome friends, and-"

"It's fine," Chance finally spoke up. "You can have him over; he seems like a cool kat, and it's probably a good idea to make sure that he won't reveal your secret, or discover ours!"

"Yeah, just make sure you tell us before he comes, okay," Jake added, finally fixing the TV's screen.

"Right… um… guys?"

"Yeah?"

"You might want to make an extra bag of popcorn, 'cause he'll be here in about five minutes. I invited him over for the movie tonight, and-"

Fortunately, Max was able to barricade himself in the bathroom before the blond tabby could reach him, only coming out when he heard Johnny come in. Of course, the two mechanics were annoyed that the human had neglected to inform them of the tan kat's arrival sooner; they couldn't just turn him away when he'd come all this way (besides his bike had finally broken down about a mile from the scrap yard), so they let him stay, and watched some old black-and-white film that was pretty good. Of course, they were still a little suspicious of the kamerakat, so they decided, just so they could keep tabs on him, to invite him to their weekly movie nights, which fit the tan feline's schedule, and made him promise up and down that he would keep Max's secret safe before fixing his bike. As he rode off, the two mechanics/Swat Kats knew that from then on, they would have to be extremely careful, now that their human roommate had a new friend.


Callie Briggs was sitting in her apartment, sipping a cup of tea, and thinking about something odd that had happened about a week prior.

Of course, there was an attack on the city, she had to save Manx's tail for the something-thousandth time, and nearly fell to her death before being caught by the Swat Kats in the Turbokat. She'd been in it several times before, but something had changed in the interior that she hadn't mentioned to T-Bone or Razor.

First, the third smaller seat that she usually sat in in the back was bigger, and had better seat belts, as well as a strange wire that seemed to connect to a speaker; the end didn't look like it would fit any device she knew of, but it was something else that still confused her.

A library book lay on the floor of the jet plane, entitled The Odyssey. Picking it up, she opened it, her eyes going wide as she read the sticker on the inside:

Blair Community College Library

Blair County, Texas

And checking to see when it was last checked out, she gave a small gasp as she read:

Checked Out: September 12th, 2019.

Before she could question this, though, T-Bone had pulled the plane into a nosedive, avoiding a column of fire from the giant monster, and she went back to focusing on not dying.

Now, however, she sat deep in thought, staring out her apartment window at the city below, wondering what it could mean. There was no place on Earth called 'Texas,' and there was no 'Blair Community College' anywhere, either. But it was the '2019' that confused her the most; she knew that the Swat Kats had once accidentally been sent to the future, but based on what they'd told her, it was an apocalyptic wasteland, and books surely hadn't existed then. Add that to the newly changed backseat, and she found herself in a confusing pickle.

"What are you two hiding," she murmured to herself, taking another sip of her tea as the city moved outside.


And that's it! Johnny's gonna become Max's 'normal friend,' and it's kinda fun, having Max live a sort of 'double life' like his Swat Kat friends!

Hope you enjoyed! Favorite, follow, and review if you want, and have a great day!

Note: I do NOT own Top Gun, Casablanca, The Odyssey, or any of the actors in ANY way, shape or form!