Hey, Readers! Here it is, once again! The third collection of short stories containing Max, the Swat Kats, and this time, several other characters who had before been barely present in this story! No longer!
I tried to be more diverse with my stories this time when it comes to their genre. Most of them are still funny in nature, but a couple of them are a little more serious in nature, and one of them (Aquaphobia) contains several F-Bombs, so beware of that. One thing that is NOT included is another Dr. Void chapter, but I plan on bringing him back later; just looking for the right time to do so.
Anyways, I'm about to leave for my ten day Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, Italy! I won't really be able to post or write during that time, so I'll try my best not to go crazy without my daily writing fix (I swear it's as addictive as coffee)!
Again, I hope that y'all enjoy this new chapter, and I hope y'all have a great day!
Designer Details
"HI-YAH," Jake yelled, swinging his practice staff at Max, who managed to block it with his own. The teen quickly countered, but the kat flipped back out of the way.
It turned out besides a Glovatrix and the Turbokat's weapons, the cinnamon feline wasn't unfamiliar with a bo staff, and was starting to spend time each day showing the human how to use the weapon. He'd even made practice models of the bo staff, that way the young man could get used to the feel of the weapon without damaging the real one. The only things the practice staffs couldn't do was shoot darts or stun anyone, but they could still break apart into two small clubs, and the two continued their combat training.
Finally, Max used the staff to help propel him forward, flipping through the air and landing on the kat, careful not to break any bones, but just knock him backwards. The Swat Kat landed with a thud, and the human stood over him, staff pressed against his neck.
"Does this mean I win," the teen grinned.
Jake gave a small chuckle. "Yep. Good job, buddy!" Max helped him to his feet. "You've really improved in the past three weeks. Have you been practicing outside of training?"
"Maybe," the young man replied simply, trying to be modest. "Are we done for today?"
"Yeah, Chance'll be wondering where we are." The blond tabby was currently upstairs, doing mechanic work in the garage. "By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure," the ex-student replied, walking off to the side and taking a swig form his water bottle.
"It's about your uniform," the small kat explained. "Nothing's wrong; just wanted to go over a few details about it, so you could make sure I didn't leave anything out. Obviously, it's gonna be long sleeved, to cover up your lack of fur, armored, since your body appears to not be as durable as ours, but flexible, so you can jump and move easily."
" … Okay…"
"We can give you a helmet that makes you look like a kat, but the only problem we have is the tail."
"Wait, you're not gonna add something to the back-"
"No, actually, since it might throw off your balance; you were raised without a tail, so adding one to your costume might affect your gymnastics. And, of course, you're gonna wear shoes, even though Chance and I don't."
"Yeah, I was curious about that; doesn't that hurt?"
"Not really; if anything, shoes just weigh us down, but I know that you humans need shoes to protect your feet."
"Yep."
"And that's it. Anything else I've forgotten?"
"Yes. What happens when I take off the helmet, or will I have to keep it on whenever I fight?"
"Nope; we have something like a ski mask for you to wear underneath it, and it will only show your eyes."
"And what about my idea for-"
"Yep, and I was able to incorporate it into the gloves and shoes."
"Then we're good," the human commented, heading towards the ladder. "I'm gonna change and help Chance. Thanks again for your help!"
"No problem, dude!"
Winter Wonderland
Apparently, the kat world weather wasn't exactly like human weather, because one December morning, Max woke up, went into the garage to look outside, wrapped in his blanket (since it was pretty cold for some reason), and gave a yelp of surprise when he saw a small blanket of snow covering the ground and mounds of metal outside. Growing up in Texas, he rarely saw snow, save one time when he was seven, but that was less than a centimeter then; this looked like several inches outside.
"Oh I'm gonna die," the teen muttered, already shivering in the freezing garage. Quickly going back inside, he pulled on Johnny's old sweater over his pajamas (he'd had it since Halloween, and the tan feline had allowed him to keep it, claiming he had more at home).
Later, when Jake and Chance woke up, the human was less-than-thrilled that they had neglected to tell him about snow.
"It'll melt by the end of the day," Chance said casually. "Snow rarely lasts here. What, are you scared of snow?"
"No," the young man said, wrapping a blanket over his shoulders; why was this damn apartment so cold?! "I'm just not a big fan of the cold; I'm from the South, and I've only seen snow once before in my life!"
"Really," Jake questioned. "So… you've never had Snow Days off from school?"
"No, but they have cancelled recess and sport events in the Spring because it was too hot outside," Max continued, finding a beanie in a closet and putting it on, readjusting the blanket around his shoulders.
"So you're not used to cold," the blond feline asked.
"Not really, but I'll be fine, though this apartment is freezing!"
"Uh… got enough layers there, buddy?"
"No," the human said shortly, pulling on a second pair of socks. "Not everyone has a coat of fur covering their entire body and keeping them warm! Do y'all have any extra coats," he asked, heading back towards the closet.
"Should we tell him that once the furnace comes on in ten minutes, it'll be hotter than the sun in here," the cinnamon kat questioned.
"Nah," the burly tabby replied. "I think he'll find out soon enough!"
In Which Max Can Tell the Difference Between Two Different Sounds That Sound Eerily Similar
Max had finally found his library book in the backseat of the Turbokat, and was reading it in the underground lair when an alarm went off. Lights flashed around the lair, and a beeping noise echoed off the walls. The teen gave a small start but, instead of freaking out, merely sighed and turned towards the ladder, knowing what was coming next
Less than ten seconds later, the two kats slid down the ladder, rushing off towards where their lockers were. Another ten seconds later, they ran by again, wearing their Swat Kats gear, and practically leaped into their jet, turning it on as the platform rose into the ceiling above them. Shortly after, the human heard the roar of the jet's engine as it shot off down the tunnel. They always made such a dramatic exit to fight crime, it was almost comical to watch.
"Thanks for saying goodbye," he muttered, the siren still going off throughout the bunker. Just to be sure, the young man checked his watch, along with the digital clock on the wall, and, for good measure, went to the main computer (which was ancient to him), and made sure he was correct with the time and date. After all the talks the Swat Kats had given them about safety, they'd just-
"Yeah, that was just the fire alarm," Max said out loud to himself, taking another sip of his tea and turning off the alarm. "They really shouldn't make them sound so similar." He then resumed his seat, waiting for the two felines to come back, and they did, fifteen minutes later, steaming mad and muttering something about, "that cruddy alarm."
"Hey guys," Max called innocently, barely holding back a snicker and holding up his book to hide his face. "Back so soon?"
"Putta sock in it!"
Game On
"Did you bring it," Chance asked the kat as he climbed off his bike.
"You bet I did," Johnny replied, taking off his pack and walking into the garage.
"Hurry up! Everything's set up already," Max said, sitting on the couch, a can of soda sitting ready next to him. Two more cans sat on the coffee table, and the kamerakat went over to the TV, pulling out the gaming system, hooking it up to the TV.
"That thing's like a dinosaur," the human commented, opening his can of soda.
"Maybe to you, dude," the tan kat replied, plugging in the wires and such, "but this is the Nebelung 3000! There's nothing like it on Earth right now!"
"Or on my Earth either," the human muttered, sipping his soda.
"What games did ya bring," the blond mechanic asked, digging into the kamera kat's bag and pulling out several game cartridges. "Radical! Revenge of the Mummy Kats Three, Monsters From the FUR-ther On, and Kat Kart Five! These are practically classics!"
"Yeah, they made special cartridges of these games for the new model. Yes!" The loading screen came onto the screen, and the three gamers gave a cheer. "Which one first?"
"I'd say the Monsters one," Max spoke up, accepting the controller that the large kat handed him.
"Same here," Chance agreed, sitting next to the teen on the couch.
"Monsters it is," Johnny said, popping in the cartridge and, grabbing his own controller, sat on the other side of the human on the couch. "Any of you played this yet?"
"Nope," they both replied.
"Of course you probably haven't, Max. What are video games like in your time?"
"They're kinda the same. The designs are more realistic, the controllers are wireless, and some game consoles can allow you to play against people on either side of the world."
"Is he lying," Johnny asked Chance, the thought of these games sounding almost fake to him.
"Now how should I know?"
"Sitting right here, guys," the human complained, taking the tan kat's sunglasses and putting them on his own face out of retaliation. Upon seeing Johnny's death glare, however, the teen quickly returned them.
"You know we're just messin' with ya buddy," the mechanic snickered, elbowing Max lightly in the ribs. "Besides, it does make sense that video games from 2019 would be more advanced than ours today."
"Did I also mention that our consoles can also play movies, TV shows and CDs as well?"
"Okay now he has to be lying," the kamerakat spoke up as the title screen appeared.
"Are you," the large Swat Kat asked the young man.
"Would I lie to you," Max replied, a small smile on his lips.
"You are lying," the kat exclaimed triumphantly.
"No I'm not; I'm just smiling because you two are crazy!"
"I'll show you crazy, pal!" And with that, the kat had the teen in a headlock, giving him a noogie while the human laughed and begged him to stop, unable to break free. Johnny couldn't help but laugh at the two; it was obvious that they were pretty close in a brotherly way, and it reconfirmed in his mind that the two mechanics were probably good guardians towards the human.
Musical Revenge
"So he does this every week," Johnny whispered.
"Yep," Max whispered back. "It took me a while to notice that my phone was missing between 3 and 3:30 every Thursday, and one day I came up here to see if Chance knew where the wrenches were kept, and... "
The two were currently ducked behind the AC unit on the roof of the building, trying their best to contain their laughter as they watched Chance dancing nearby, some of Max's 'Weird Future Music' playing from the teen's phone. The kat, meanwhile, hadn't noticed the two snoops, and was moving along with the music, tail swishing back and forth like a metronome.
"This is gonna be good," the young man grinned, holding up the kamerakat's camera to his eye. "Is it recording?"
"Wait, let me check… yep," the tan kat said, grinning back at the teen. "We're good to go! Have I told you enough that you humans are crazy?"
"Not recently."
"Well I'm sayin' it now."
"Whatever. Oh! He's getting to the good part!"
"I CAN SEE YOUR HALO, HALO," Chance screeched along with Beyonce, oblivious to the world around him. The two snoops stifled laughs as they continued to film the oblivious kat. "I CAN SEE YOUR HALO! HALO-O!"
"What was your plan with this again," the kamerakat asked the young man as the mechanic tried in vain to hit the high note, but failing miserably.
"Well, let's just say that next week's Movie Night's gonna be pretty… interesting!"
Aquaphobia
Max crept along the hallway, holding the bo staff in front of him as he scanned the surrounding metal walls for any sign of something sinister.
He had no idea why Jake and Chance called it the Reflex Room; it was more like the Reflex Maze, since it was a bunch of hallways and large rooms full of death traps and the sort. Looking at the size of it, he wondered what this bunker's original purpose had been, and wondered how long it had taken the Swat Kats to put this death trap together. Of course, they hadn't let him trained in the room before; it wasn't until a few days before December first that they'd finally said yes to letting him go through it, though they insisted on telling him everything he'd need to face ahead of time, so there were no surprises. They were currently at some control panel, watching him navigate the hallways. His current objective was to reach and hit a red button, and he was waiting for something to happen.
A wall near Max's face slid open, and the teen had barely enough time to duck as a few darts shot out, whizzing through the air where his head had been seconds previous. Hearing a whirring sound, he quickly rolled forward, breaking into a run as a laser hit the ground behind him. A few more fired after him, but the human avoided them, ducking into the next room. In the next room, he quickly jumped, avoiding a small pit full of spikes, landing into a roll, raising his staff in time to deflect a boomerang that nearly hit his face.
..
Meanwhile, the two kats watched their trainee navigate the next room, using his bo staff to propel himself over a low wall, then using it to short out a panel, opening the next door. They couldn't help being impressed with how far the human had come in such a short time, and under their guidance, no less.
"He's doing good so far," Jake said, watching one of the screens as Max avoiding more darts that shot out from a wall.
"Yeah," Chance answered, sitting at the control panel and pressing buttons and turning dials, causing the weapons in the room to fire at the young man; he wasn't going too hard on the teen, but he sure as heck wasn't going easy on him, either. "He's nearly to the final room!"
"Good. Did you switch off the water trap?"
"What?"
"You know; one of the floor tiles causes the room to flood with water."
The blond tabby quickly turned to his friend. "I thought you did that! You're the techy kat in this operation!"
"Crud," the cinnamon kat muttered, reaching over and hitting a button, trying to cut off the human from reaching the final room, but was a second too late as the teen ran into the next room, the door sliding behind him.
"Does he know about it? That tile's right by the door-"
"No! I thought the water trap wouldn't be a part of it, so I didn't mention it to him!"
"CRUD!"
..
Back in the Reflex Room, Max had finally made it to the final room. Large and open, he saw the button on the other side of the room, resting on a solitary pedestal; the floor was covered with innocuous tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Knowing that he had to be careful (the Swat Kats had told him that the final room was full of booby traps, but they weren't specific), he slowly started forward; there was no way of telling which tiles were wired, so he had to be prepared for anything. One wrong step, and he'd had to avoid more darts, or duck a low-swinging bar, or-
Click.
The tile he'd stepped on sank slightly into the floor, and the human tensed himself for what was to come. The walls on either side of him slid open, and he quickly activated the shield on his practice Glovatrix, ready to block the deluge of darts or whatever was to come. However, when the water started to pour into the room, he quickly straightened up, eyes going wide.
"Guys, stop," he yelled, backing away from the walls as the room quickly started to fill with water. They wouldn't do this to him; they knew that he couldn't swim, and was scared of drowning; he'd even made them promise up and down that they would never use water to train him. The water in the room lapped over his boots, starting to reach his ankles. "This isn't funny! Guys, seriously, cut it out! Shut the water off!"
But the water continued to pour into the space, and Max quickly ran back to the door he had just come through, trying to pry it open, but to no avail. The water was now up to his knees, and rising still. He started to breathe heavily, frantically looking around the room for some other escape. Remembering that the exercise would end once the button was hit, he quickly trudged through the water, not caring if he stepped on any other panels or triggered any other booby traps. For some reason, none were set off, and by the time he reached the button, the water was up to his waist.
"STOP," he yelled, slamming his fist on the button. The glowing light behind it was shut off, and a disembodied voice said, "SIMULATION ENDED."
But the water continued to pour into the room.
Now, Jake and Chance had built a drain into the floor of the room (because it would have been stupid of them not to build one), but it was automated, like most of the devices in the Reflex Room. Jake would later find out that a wire had become disconnected, not allowing the room to drain, nor stopping the flow of water. There was a manual drain release and water shut-off valve underneath the pedestal holding the button, but Max didn't know about it. By now, the water had reached his chest, and he was in full-on panic mode.
"LET ME OUT," Max finally screamed, pounding on the metal wall, trying to break it down, but unable to do so. "GUYS, LET ME OUT, PLEASE!" He felt his feet leave the ground as the water reached his neck, and he fell back, dropping the bo staff and the water closed over his head.
The Panic came over him, the Panic that came whenever there was too much water, and he tried to bring himself back above the surface, but he somehow propelled himself into the floor, his lungs screaming for breath and his orientation askew. He tried to break the floor, thinking it was the ceiling, but it didn't budge. The human even tried to close his eyes, hoping that it was a dream he would wake up from, but it didn't do any good; a few bubbles escaped his mouth, and his lungs screamed for air. It was his worst nightmare come to life, but he wasn't waking up, no matter how hard he tried, because he was already awake.
Suddenly, he felt something being shoved onto his face, and involuntarily gasping, was surprised when he felt oxygen flow into his lungs. Eyes popping open, he saw Chance floating in front of him, holding his breath as he held an oxygen mask to the young man's face with one hand, an oxygen tank in the other. Behind him, Jake was fiddling with something at the base of the pedestal. Even though he could breathe, he was still panicky, thrashing in the water as the burly Swat Kat tried to keep him still and calm him down.
The sound of water pouring into the room was abruptly cut off, and then the sound of a giant drain being pulled filled the room, and the water level started to drop, the three figures gently settling onto the ground. Eventually, the water was low enough for them to breathe air again, and Max immediately pushed the kat back, the oxygen mask and tank clattering to the ground. He took deep gulps of air, trying to calm down, water dripping from the ceiling, making him jump when one landed on him. The two felines sat nearby, gasping at how close of a call it had been; they were able to come in through the ceiling, and Jake had gotten to the valve just in time. Also, they had to find the special mask that Jake had made for the human, since their masks didn't cover his face correctly.
" … Max," Jake eventually started, his and Chance's fur soaking wet, the two felines looking at the human with concern as they both climbed to their feet. "We… we're sorry about that; we thought we'd drained the water and shut off that particular trap, so we didn't bother telling you about-"
"Well it wasn't drained," the human interrupted, hands and voice shaking, his back still to them. "And you both apparently didn't bother to check to see if that trap was switched off beforehand! And I… I nearly drowned! AGAIN!" He gave a small laugh at that, and the two kats gave each other a scared look. "That's the third time in nearly three months!"
"Max, we're sorry," Chance now spoke up. "We didn't mean for this to hap-"
"Oh, you're sorry? You're SORRY?!" He whirled on the two, face full of rage. "IF YOU HAVE A ROOM THAT FILLS WITH FUCKING WATER, MAKE SURE IT WON'T DO THAT BEFORE YOU SEND SOMEONE WHO'S SCARED OF WATER INTO IT!" He climbed to his feet and stormed over to the kat, shoving him with all his might; the large kat stumbled back, but didn't fall. The young human shoved him again.
"I'VE GONE THROUGH ALL THAT TRAINING, ALL THOSE EXERCISES, BUT THE ONE THING I'D TOLD YOU, THE ONE CONDITION I HAD: NO! FUCKING! WATER!" He tried to punch the kat now, but Chance quickly blocked his punch. Tears were now streaming down the teen's face, and he tried to punch the pilot again, but was foiled. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS," he continued, trying to pull his hands free so he could attack the Swat Kat, but the feline held them tightly, not letting him go. "I TRUSTED YOU, AND I TOLD YOU: NO FUCKING WATER! NO… FUCKING… Water… No… Fu- … water…"
Chance quickly pulled the human into a hug as Max started to sob, nearly crushing Max in his embrace. Surprisingly, the young man didn't fight back, but allowed himself to be hugged, still blubbering like a baby. The burly Swat Kat simply stood there, staring at his best friend over the teen's shoulder, both of them somber and knowing that they'd messed up. Badly.
Eventually, Max sank to the ground, pulling the kat with him, still crying, the emotions and memories of nearly drowning crashing over him like a tsunami. The burly kat remained silent, hugging him back, waiting for the tears to subside. Around them, the last of the water drained into the floor, going back into the storage tanks on either side of the walls
To say the least, Max never put another foot into the Reflex Room after that, and it took several weeks for the guilt of nearly killing their human friend to wear off the two felines.
Girl Talk or Movie Night Part Three
"So have you even tried asking her out again," Max questioned, taking another bite of his noodles.
"Yeah, but she always claims that she's busy," Johnny replied, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork, having given up on the chopsticks a while ago.
It was the evening of their weekly movie night, and the kamerakat had brought Asian food for the four of them to share. By now, the four had become close friends, the two mechanics now trusting that the tan tabby didn't mean any harm to the human. Besides, anykat that brought free food was worth keeping around. Somehow, however, their dinner conversation had turned towards the kamerakat's short relationship with Ann Gora.
"What about you two," Max asked, looking over at Jake and Chance. "I noticed that Callie stopped by earlier today."
"Callie," the tan feline questioned. "You mean the Deputy Mayor-"
"Who said I liked her," Chance said quickly, taking another bite of his chow mein.
"Or that I liked her," Jake added.
"Oh, please; the two of you practically become Prince Charming whenever she's around!" The human cleared his throat, saying in a pretty good imitation of Chance, "'If you have any more problems you ever wanna talk about Miss Briggs, just let me know!'"
"I do NOT talk like that," the kat in question growled while the three others roared with laughter. "And I was just tellin' her if she had any more car troubles that she should come back!"
"Sure you were, buddy," the cinnamon kat chuckled.
"You're no better," the teen commented. "I wouldn't be surprised if she knew that y'all both had a crush on her!"
"But then why wouldn't she say anything?"
"Do I look like I know?!"
"You have two older sisters; surely you know something!"
"Well, I don't," the young man continued. "Except that having two sisters only made me more confused about women in general!"
"Speaking of which, what about you," Johnny spoke up, turning towards the teen.
"What?"
"Surely you've had your share of relationships in the past, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not gonna-"
"Oh you're gonna tell us, buddy," Chance said, grinning evilly at the thought of having something to hand over the human's head. The other two kats pressed the teen as well until he finally relented.
"Fine! Okay… once, in high school, I was dating this girl, Violet, and she neglected to tell me that she was moving away, so when I went over to her house for Valentine's Day, in the rain, no less, to deliver my gift for her, she was gone. And if you think that's bad, when she moved back six months later, I didn't know until she showed up at the school dance, and introduced me to her new boyfriend!"
The three kats couldn't help but laugh at that, but remained sympathetic towards their young friend. "That's rough, buddy," the burly mechanic said, tossing him an extra fortune cookie for good measure. "Is that-"
"No. This other girl once broke up with me over text!" The three stared at him blankly. "Oh c'mon, you remember this," Max said, slightly exasperated. "It's that instant communication thing on our phones in the future; it's like email?"
"OH," the kats chorused, nodding with understanding.
"So… breaking up over text is bad," the kamerakat queried.
"Yep; if you don't have the guts to break up in person, and mind you, I still had the same World Geography class as her, then not only is it cowardly, but just plain rude. And now you see why I don't date anymore!"
"Wait, you've only dated twice in your life," Jake commented.
"Yeah, and that was enough! Besides, my dad died after that, so I started focusing more on gymnastics instead of my social life."
"Do you guys think that girls talk about us in groups the way that we talk about them," Johnny wondered.
"Who knows," Chance said, tossing his empty container into the trash. "Now it's my turn to choose the movie, since last time's movie was a little… extra." Max, Jake and Johnny snickered, remembering the look on the burly mechanic's face when Max's revenge plot had been complete. "But in return, I've selected Scaredy Kat: The Movie!"
The other three groaned, knowing that the next eighty or so minutes would be pure torture.
"Need I mention it's the extended cut," the kat added, giving them all a wicked grin.
"Why you-"
..
Meanwhile, in the apartment of the Deputy Mayor, Callie Briggs turned to look at Ann Gora and Felina Feral, a determined expression on her face. "I need your help, girls," she started.
The two guests looked at one another, still unsure as to why the Deputy Mayor had called them both, asking for help. However, the three had grown close over the years (having been saved by the Swat Kats so many times), and the news kat and Enforcer turned back to her with some concern.
"A couple of weeks ago," Callie continued, unconsciuosly pacing back and forth in front of the couch, "I found something in the Swat Kat's jet. Something that I can't explain."
This piqued Felina's attention. "Are you talking about a clue to their identities," she asked, only imagining what her uncle would do if it got out that the Deputy Mayor knew the identities of the Swat Kats.
"No, this was… different."
"Just tell us already," the reporter begged, practically on the edge of her seat, wondering what it could be.
"I found a book," the blond kat started to say, straightening her glasses.
"A what?"
"A book."
"But the Swat Kats don't seem like the kind of guys that spend their free-time reading-"
"Exactly," Callie exclaimed triumphantly, going over to her desk and pulling out a piece of paper. "Because it wasn't theirs! I found it in that third seat in the back, and they've modified it; made it bigger, safer, and there's this weird cord thing back there as well! But back to the book, I wrote down what I read in it, and… just look!" Her two friends leaned forward, reading the words that the kat was holding out for them.
Silence for a few moments, then-
"Is this real," the Lieutenant asked in a hushed whisper, taking the paper, as if that would make it more real.
"It has to be; it certainly looked real, and why would they have a fake book in the back of the Turbokat?"
"So are you implying that somekat from the future is currently with the Swat Kats," Ann demanded. "Or that the Swat Kats themselves are from the future?"
"I doubt the latter, since they've never shown any signs of being from the future, and because they appear to lack futuristic tech. Besides, they went to the future once, and it was pretty much the Apocalypse. No, I think that somekat from the future is with them."
"So that cord-"
"Might connect to some sort of future device," Callie finished.
"But how did this kat come from the future," Felina questioned. "And if so, why haven't the Swat Kats approached any of us about helping them get home?"
"That's what's confusing me," Callie admitted, sitting down in a nearby chair. "Which is why we need to get to the bottom of this!"
"Why?"
"Because the Swat Kats, while they are Megakat City's greatest heroes, if they're keeping somekat secret, without even mentioning that this individual exists, then we need to know why; if this future visitor means no harm, then why hadn't they told anyone about him?"
"Or her," Ann cut in.
"I doubt it; their jet still smelled the same."
"Like sweat, paint, and leather?"
"Yep! Besides, if it was a girl, then they definitely would've told one of us about her; no, it has to be a guy."
"I assume you have a plan," the Enforcer asked.
"Kind of. Ann, since you're pretty big in the news, and you interview a lot of bigwigs and scientists, try to see if you can dig up anything about time travel or anykat working on said time travel."
"Got it!"
"And Felina, maybe you can go interrogate the Pastmaster, ask if he's ever been to the year 2019, and if so, did he bring anykat back with him. Also, look up any arrest reports on any kats that were acting strange, as if they don't know how to act in today's time."
"My uncle probably won't like that."
"Then I suggest that you keep it quiet, then." The Lieutenant nodded in agreeance.
"And what about you," the news reporter asked.
"I'll look on the City's database, try to find any households that suddenly have another member living with them, or any complaints from citizens about somekat acting out. Also, the next time I'm in that Turbojet, I'll check for more clues. Does that sound good to everyone?" The others nodded. "Good! We will find out what's going on, if it's the last thing we do!"
"Okay, but can we get back to Movie Night now," Ann asked. "What'd you bring this week?"
"I brought While You Were Dreaming," Felina commented, grabbing the VHS tape from her handbag.
"Sounds good! I'll get some more tea," Callie offered, heading towards the kitchen. "By the way Ann, how's things with you and Johnny?"
"You and that kamerakat are together," the Enforcer asked incredulously, turning to the reporter.
"We are NOT TOGETHER," she said defensively, a blush appearing underneath her fur. "We're just… work friends is all."
"Oh with that pause, you should be more than 'just work friends,'" the Lieutenant commented, putting the tape in the VCR and smirking a little.
"She's right," the Deputy Mayor spoke up, bringing three mugs of tea into the living room.
"You're both single; what do you know about relationships," Ann mumbled, accepting her tea and quickly taking a sip. "Or are you and the Swat Kats a thing now?"
"WHAT?!" The two she-kats gave their friend a shocked look.
"Oh come now! You two are so obviously flirting with those two pilots everytime you save the world together! And before you disagree, remember I most likely have video evidence to back this up."
"Look here, Nosy Nancy-" Callie started angrily.
"You know what girls," Felina spoke up, using her authoritative tone to get their attention. "Let's not fight amongst ourselves; we're better than this! Can we just agree to leave love to the kats that know what they're doing?"
The two friends looked at each other, and then at the Enforcer, realizing she was right. "Fine," Ann replied, rubbing her forehead. "Sorry girls; just stressed at work, and I just wanna relax and watch a good flick. Now, I haven't seen this movie before; is it any good?"
"It's pretty good," Callie assured her, sitting down on the chair and grabbing the remote. "Plus, Sandra Burmilla looks simply gorgeous in this film! Did you notice that she cut her hair a couple weeks ago?"
"Tell me about it! It looks like she stuck a hairball on top of her head!"
"At least it's better than that old cut that looked like somekat took a pair of shearing shears to her head!" The three friends laughed at that as the movie started, enjoying these moments where they could just be themselves.
END OF ACT ONE
And that's it for this chapter! I hope y'all enjoyed it!
One quick note, though: I, being a guy, am NOT claiming to have ANY CLUE about women and how they act! Most of what I wrote about comes from my own personal experiences (I have four sisters, and grew up with a mom who often had her friends over for dinner), so PLEASE don't get mad at me if I'm somehow inaccurate in some way! And if I am mistaken in ANY WAY, I humbly apologize.
Another note: if you've probably guessed, I'm planning on making Johnny and Ann a couple (GASP!), but am waiting to take my time to see how I want it to go. As for the other characters, I haven't decided yet, but I hope you've enjoyed the big brother/little brother bond between Chance and Max; I have two little brothers myself (I'm from a family of seven), and I couldn't help but add that in!
Also, I hope y'all have enjoyed the subtle references to movies, TV shows, famous people and place names throughout the story so far. I tried to do what the original show writers have done and used cat-related puns, even using cat breed names for words that sounded similar. On that note: any songs, TV shows, movies, famous people, and lyrics (I'm mainly talking about Beyonce's Halo here, but there's some others) in this chapter/stories and before I do NOT own in ANY way, shape or form!
I hope you've liked the story so far! Like and Follow if you've enjoyed it and want more, and goodbye for now!
