Hey everyone!
Sorry for the wait; it kinda took me a while to write this chapter. Hope it was worth the wait. A lot of emotional stuff here, so be ready. Hope you like it!
Reactions and Truths:
Max POV:
They had put Max in a cell by himself, away from the other prisoners. Fortunately, they took off the handcuffs and left him alone, probably too freaked out to deal with him at the moment. The human did and said nothing, and didn't fight back; he simply sat on the bare bed, staring at the wall across from him, thinking.
Well, it looked like his worst fear had finally come true; his identity as a non-kat was discovered, and now he was at the mercy of the Enforcers, who were known to kill every alien and monster that came their way, as well as unfairly sentenced his friends to a lifetime of manual labor. At least they gave him a cell to himself; it gave him a distraction-free place to think about the decision he'd made to rejoin the Swat Kats. Looking at where it got him now, with a broken hand and a prison cell, he wasn't thinking it was the best idea. Was it a bad idea, though? He didn't think so; Max knew that if he hadn't shown up, his friends, along with those hostages, would be dead. Besides, he wouldn't have found out about the incoming attack on his own world, or that this person worked for the Benefactor, so at least he didn't leave with less knowledge than he'd had before. There was only one regret he had, though: Felina.
She didn't deserve to die. She deserved a long life and a chance to marry, have kids, and eventually retire. He didn't know her personally, but it still hurt, knowing that one of the only good Enforcers, and a good friend of the Swat Kats, was dead. The only consolation he could think of was that it was quick and painless, but thinking about her bleeding corpse nearly made him vomit, and nearly brought him back into a memory. So he focused on Gorgan, her murderer, and how he would bring that guy to justice, and somehow stop him and the Benefactor from invading his Earth. Gorgan's warning was dark and scary; he didn't know what this Father character was planning, but he would stop them. First, however, he needed to get out of this cell; he'd been there for nearly an hour, and he knew that something had to happen soon; he didn't know when this Father person was planning on invading Texas, but he figured that they were running out of time.
A door slammed open at the end of the hallway, and footsteps started to approach; apparently, they were tired of waiting, and the human waited to see what would happen. "Sir, if you're not feeling well," a voice from the hallway said, getting closer. "I insist that you not talk to-"
"I don't give a damn about my feelings," a familiar voice snapped. "I'm talking to it!"
"He's not an it, Commander," a third voice spoke up, this one familiar as well.
The cell door suddenly swung open, and three kats burst into the room. Commander Feral led the way, flanked on each side by Callie Briggs and some other Enforcer that, given his uniform, showed that he was a Lieutenant, like Felina was. The human didn't move, but simply sat on the bunk, watching them. Never had he imagined that they would ever see one another face-to-face, and a odd sense of bravado at being out without a mask on came over the him. However, he also remembered the kat was Felina's uncle, and wondered if he was about to die.
"So," Feral said, looking Max up and down, "I guess I wasn't seeing things after that Turmoil attack last year; you're an alien."
"I guess so," he replied, trying not to sound disrespectful; while he didn't like Feral, he knew that if he could convince the Enforcers to help him, he might find a way to stop this guy from invading his world. The Commander pulled out a handkerchief, coughed into it, and put it back in his pocket, flecks of blood staining the white.
"Again, sir," the other Enforcer said, "I would be happy to take over if you're feeling unwe-"
"Over my dead body, Steel," the tall kat growled. "I'll have you reported for insubordination and obstructing justice." That shut the Lieutenant up, though he scowled at Feral from behind his back. "I'm already in a bad mood tonight, but we have a crisis on our hands; some madkat is going to exterminate our race and replace it with…" He looked back at Max. "What are you supposed to be?"
"A human."
"Human," Callie repeated, not appearing scared of his appearance, but not looking kind and understanding, either; well, her friend had just died, so Max could understand if she blamed him for not doing anything. Not like he could've done anything; he was fast, but not fast enough to stop a bullet.
"But let's start from the beginning," Feral continued, covering another cough, "who are you, where did you come from, and what is your intention?"
"My name's Max Greenwhich," the man replied, figuring that them knowing his real name wouldn't jeopardize his Swat Kat identity (since that got thrown out the window long ago). "I'm from Earth, but one from an alternate dimension. I was brought here nearly two years ago, and I've been in hiding for my safety since then. And as for my intentions… I just wanna go home." And he did, but it looked like he had to save it first before he could see his family again.
"You've been in hiding for two years," Steel asked incredulously. "How'd you manage that?"
"By being careful," the human replied simply. "And I had help, as you probably could tell."
"Not too careful," Callie interjected, pulling a piece of paper from her briefcase and handing it to him. "Recognize this?"
Max took the paper, scanning the words, looking up at her in shock. "How did you-"
"You left it in the Turbokat in 1995," she told him. "I found it and copied down the information. I thought then that you were from the future, but I see now that I was wrong."
"Not really," the human replied. "It's 2019 in my world."
The three kats gaped at that. "How old are you," Commander Feral asked.
"21; I was 19 when I arrived here. Missed a whole lotta college back home."
"You have colleges in your world," Steel asked.
"Yes. Besides the time and species difference, our worlds are pretty much identical; we have the same continents, solar system, and even some of the same animal species as well. We're not dumber than you, but I have no right to sit here and say that we're smarter, seeing as someone on your side brought me here."
"We can see you have about as much intelligence as us," Feral said, covering another cough; he must be really sick, and the human hoped it wasn't contagious. "So, let me ask you this: who are the Swat Kats?"
Max couldn't help but grin; even now, with the threat of both of their species dying, the kat still had one goal in mind. "Now you know I can't tell you that, Commander Feral. The justice system on my Earth may not be perfect, but it's better than yours, and I will not condemn those that helped me to a lifetime of prison."
The kat gaped at him in shock, allowing his second-in-command to interject. "We could throw you in prison for the rest of your life-"
"No, you can't," the human interrupted. "I've studied your laws; your punishments and such only pertain to kats, not humans. An alien species hasn't been on this planet long enough for you to come up with a set of rules regarding non-kat species. So, technically, you can't even keep me locked up, and seeing as how time seems short in our case, I think it's best that we try to stop this guy from exterminating your species. But," he continued, getting up from his seat, "if you still don't trust me, then feel free to handcuff me; I promise I don't have laser eyes or super strength or anything supernatural that could help me break out." He held out his hands to them, waiting for a response; if worst came to worse, he'd try to escape, find Jake and Chance, and try to figure out a way to help both their worlds.
The three kats were silent, probably thinking about what the human had said. Callie, still frowning at him, didn't move, but Steel looked to Feral, waiting to see what would happen. The head of the Enforcers looked at Max, his eyes seeming to scan him, seeing what consequences might come forth if he let him go. They could both tell that Max was right, and that, legally, they couldn't hold him in prison. Finally, he nodded. "Fine. But if you try anything-"
"I won't," the human promised.
"Okay. Your… friends are currently in one of the conference rooms. Follow us." He turned and left the cell, followed by Steel, but before Max could leave, Callie stopped him.
"Why didn't you say anything," she asked him, a frown on her face. "You'd been a Swat Kat for months before disappearing; I would've understood."
"We didn't want to risk anything," Max replied. "But… if it's any consolation, we were planning on telling you. Honest."
"Why did you disappear?"
"That's a long story," the human told her. "One for another time, after this is over." He tried to leave again, but again found his way barred by the deputy mayor.
"I'm not mad at you," she told him, not frowning, but not smiling either. "You had no warning or chance to save her. But… I am disappointed." Then, she left, with the human hesitating for a second before following, somehow feeling worse.
T-Bone POV:
It had been a long time since he and Razor had been in Enforcer Headquarters; it was awkward, to say the least, seeing their old place of work. Of course, no one knew who they really were, so at least they weren't arrested.
After Max had been taken, Jake had managed to get away so he could change into his Swat Kat persona, Callie disappeared to do her Deputy Mayor thing, and Johnny stayed with Ann and the other hostages, being treated for wounds. Ann was, like the rest of them, shocked by Felina's sudden murder; in all their time knowing her, she had always been smart and fast. Seeing her just die like that seemed… disrespectful. It was disrespectful, but they didn't have time to grieve; they had their world, and another, to save, not to mention a friend to spring from jail. They were fortunate enough that the Enforcers considered this upcoming attack a top priority, meaning that they weren't in a holding cell.
"Lonestar," Razor said, and T-Bone looked up to see Feral, Steel, Callie and Max walk into the conference room, which was in the middle of the main command center of the Enforcer Building, with walls of glass allowing them to see everything happening around them. A few Enforcers gave Max a double-take, but other than that, they left him alone.
"Hey, guys," the human replied, walking over to them, giving them a wry grin. "Glad you two made it okay."
"Forget us," Razor said. "How're you? Have they done anything to you? Have you had a flash-"
"I'm fine," the human interrupted, accepting his stuff that Steel begrudgingly handed back to him. "Just… let's just figure out how to stop this guy." He looked over at Feral. "Please tell me you have some clue as to who this Gorgan's working for."
"Not much," Feral said. "The trail went cold in the sewers, and the kat left no evidence; we got some DNA samples, but they're not even complete kat DNA; just traces of it."
"How's that possible," T-Bone asked. "Sure, it's pretty tall for a kat, but how could it not be a kat?"
"Some kind of drug?"
"None were found in the samples," Steel spoke up.
"Wait," Callie interrupted, her face lighting up with realization, "this Father kat is probably the one who brought Max here, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So what if he brought someone else over from his world? After all, why attack a whole world with a bioweapon that turns them into a new kind of kat if you don't know that it's going to work beforehand?"
Everyone gaped at her. "Holy… do you mean to say that Gorgan was a human?!"
"Probably; it would explain why his DNA isn't exactly a kats, and as to why he seemed so dumb; whatever process the Father put him through must've messed with his intelligence."
"So that's what'll happen to the humans back on my Earth," Max asked, sounding almost scared and disgusted. "They'll be turned into dumb obeying machines?"
"That's what's gonna be replacing our species," Steel asked, sounding disgusted.
"They're not dumb," T-Bone spoke up, in Max's defence. "His speech pattern was simple, but his thought process was incredible; my guess is that he's smarter than he looks, but not smart enough to want to be free from this Father kat."
"This world you're from," Feral asked Lonestar, "how many of your humans live there?"
"About seven billion, but he said he's starting at my home state, which has about… 28.7 million? That includes children and elderly and…" He looked off into the distance, thoughtful. "… My family."
"We'll stop him," T-Bone told their friend, looking determined. "I swear by it."
"How," Steel asked condescendingly. "Unless you know somekat who has a trans-dimensional portal, I'd say we should just prepare for the incoming invasion."
The Swat Kats glared at him, remembering why they hated him more than Feral, but knowing that now was not the time to crack jokes or exchange insults. "Well," T-Bone said, "we may know somekat who could help."
"But he hasn't finished it yet," Lonestar told him. "And we can't just rush him and-"
"Who're we talking about," Feral demanded, covering a cough with a handkerchief.
Callie POV:
"Yes, I have not completed it," Professor Hackle told the group. "And there is no possible way I would be able to finish it in time unless I had the proper equations; that alone could take months to figure out on my own."
Feral, Callie, the Swat Kats and Max were standing in Hackle's garage, having explained the situation to him. He, of course, had seen the news, and for some reason, had a medical bot ready to fix Max's broken hand, as well as check his vitals and so on. It was suspicious, but the feline said nothing, and was relieved that Steel was back at Enforcer headquarters instead of being with them.
"So we're stuck dealing with an invasion," Feral asked, covering yet another cough; Felina had mentioned earlier that he wasn't feeling well, and Callie wondered how bad it really was.
"And my home's about to be attacked by some crazy kat and his minion," Max added. "And then my whole species could be wiped out!"
"I know this is hard for you," the old kat said kindly, "but unless I have those formulas, I cannot do anything to help."
"What about weapons," T-Bone asked. "We know you're not a fan of them, but surely you have something that we can use to defend ourselves!"
"You know my policy," the professor said sternly. "No weapons. I don't make those anymore."
Max hit the table, startling everyone. "Damnit, Hackle, we don't have time for this! My family and species are in danger, and you're just gonna let it happen?! And even if you can't help my world, you should at least help defend this one!"
"Max-"
"You're supposed to help people, help ME, and you can't even offer us a solution?! My family could die, or end up as slaves to some lunatic, and I… I can't… not again..." The human suddenly stumbled back, looking around him with a panicked expression, starting to breathe quickly. It didn't look natural, even though the deputy mayor had no idea how humans acted, and the kats watched as the man started to shake, mumbling something to himself.
"What's wrong with him," Callie asked.
"Crud; he's having a flashback," T-Bone said, going over to his friend's side.
"Flashback," Feral asked, staring at the human with a mixture of concern and confusion.
"He had a traumatic experience a little over a year ago, after the Turmoil attack," Hackle explained, quickly walking over to Max, who'd fallen onto the ground, shaking and curled in the fetal position. "Do you recall that fear formula Turmoil intended for T-Bone, Commander Feral? Max got the full dose, and by the time he woke up half an hour later, he was in hysterics; his friends brought him to me, and I offered my help. The first few months afterwards were… difficult, to say the least. It was why he stopped being a Swat Kat; he still has an occasional flashback, and didn't want to risk having one mid-battle." He held the human's hand, telling him to breathe and focus, mentioning grounding.
Callie and Feral stared in shock; she had no idea why Lonestar had stopped showing up, but now that she thought about it, after Turmoil's attack last year, he hadn't been out in public with the Swat Kats. And she recalled Felina telling her about the fear serum... She could only imagine what the human must have gone through, and felt bad for being upset with him for not being present the past year, as well as for freezing up earlier that evening when- No, she still couldn't think about it. Not yet.
The human finally gasped, sitting up and looking around wildly for a few moments before seeming to calm down. "I… I… I'm fine," he stammered, trying to slow his breathing. "I… I'm fine."
"Are you sure," the old kat asked him. "I have a medical bot on standby if-"
"I'm fine," Max assured him, slowly climbing to his feet. "Sorry I… I just…"
"I understand," Hackle said kindly. "And I may be able to help in some way."
"How," Feral asked, stifling another cough.
"I have had many colleagues over the years, meaning I know which kats study what. Several months ago, I came across the old work of one Dr. Viverral Void, who tried to come up with a dimensional portal like the one that brought Max here. I have the notes with me, but it seems that some of them, the ones with the equations, are missing, according to the page numbers. I tried contacting Dr. Void, but he was unavailable; it appears that old age has taken its toll on him."
"Do you think he might have the missing notes," Callie asked.
"Yes, and while we know he never succeeded in creating a portal that we know of, the formulas would greatly help me figure out where to move on from there."
"Then let's get them," Max said, heading for the door.
"You're not going anywhere," Feral told him. "We may not be able to lock you up, but you can't just go walking outside looking like that!"
"He does make a good point," Razor said. "Some kats might attack you because you're an alien, and right now, we need to keep you safe; if we can make it to your world, we'll need your help getting around."
"And the stress of what's been happening may cause another flashback," Professor Hackle told him. "You need to rest for a bit before you do any more fighting."
Max looked at the group, sighing. "Fine. But who'll go?"
"I'll go," Feral and Razor said at the same time, both of them glaring at one another.
"I'll go too," T-Bone said. "Just to keep an eye on them."
"I need to go," Callie said. "There… there's a friend I need to visit right now, and no doubt the mayor'll be needing my help."
"I will stay with Max; he can help me continue to work on the machine," Hackle said. Everyone nodded, agreeing with the plan, and started to leave.
"Wait," Callie said, grabbing Razor's hand. "Can I talk to you? In private?"
The kat looked a little nervous, but nodded. "Sure." Ignoring his friends and Feral, who looked confused, they made their way into the hallway of the Professor's home, walking away from the door to the lab before stopping.
"If this is because we didn't tell you about Max earlier, I'm sorry," he started to say. "We wanted to, but then the whole thing happened with the fear serum, and-" Callie simply reached forward, yanking off the kat's bandanna, revealing his identity. He was so stunned, he simply gaped at her in shock, and she stared at him, taking in his true identity.
"No more secrets," she told him, now looking at the face of Jake Clawson. "And… seeing as how you never told me about your alien friend, I thought I deserved to know."
"You did," Razor/Jake replied, taking back the bandanna and putting it back over his face. "But… not like that. I… I wanted to tell you myself."
"I know," she said, "but dammit, Jake, I've been through enough because of you! I go on a wild goose chase for nearly two years trying to figure out who Max was, wondering why you two didn't trust me enough to tell me, and now I find out not just about Max, but about your identity as well! I didn't need to remove your mask to know that you were Jake."
"How did you find out?"
"You told the Enforcers back at the restaurant to leave him alone," Callie replied. "And… the one time you were with me when something bad happened, Razor wasn't there."
The cinnamon kat winced. "Yep… I guess I did say that… Wow, after four or five years of no one knowing-"
"But Max knew."
"He figured it out, living with us. We weren't planning on making him our third member at first, but we learned about his background, and he seemed interested in doing it, so… it just happened."
"But why was he so cold to me when we first met? And never talking to the press?"
"That was for Johnny and Ann; he'd met them on Halloween in 1995, and they were all captured by the Metallikats. We didn't want to risk them recognizing his voice, and tracing him back to us. And as for being cold towards you… I guess he was just riding the high of being a superhero; he'll probably apologize if you bring it up to him now."
She thought that over. "So… Johnny never knew about you guys?"
"He knew Max existed, but not that he or T-Bone and I were the Swat Kats. At least…"
Callie's eyes narrowed. "You told HIM?!"
"He was the only kat besides us who knew Max existed," Jake said defensively. "You didn't see him that day; we thought he was gonna die! We told Johnny because we knew he would find out one way or another; we couldn't explain Max suddenly having PTSD!"
"So when were you going to tell me? That attack was over 15 months ago! How long were you going to keep me in the dark?"
"We didn't want to stress you, or deal with the stress ourselves! Between checking up on Max and our day job and Swat Kat duties, we couldn't deal with having to explain to you that you've known the Swat Kats the whole time!"
"I'm stressful now," she asked.
"Yes! Right now, you're pretty stressful!"
"I'm sorry! My best friend just died, and your going to lecture me on being stressed out?!"
They both went silent, staring at each other as her words echoed through the corridor. It was obvious what the two of them were thinking about, and Callie quickly turned away, determined not to cry in front of him. He tried to take her hand, but she stepped back.
"Don't. I… I need some time to think," she said, hoping that he understood what she meant. "And… I'm telling Ann; she already was planning on talking to Johnny, so…"
Jake nodded. "I understand. Just… let me know when you're ready, and we'll talk it out. I promise."
"Yeah…" And turning away, she walked back down the hall, a few tears streaming down her face, determined to see her friend.
Johnny POV:
"She… she was right there," Ann was saying, still sounding shell-shocked. "And then…"
"I know," Johnny told her, hugging her as she continued to grieve, ignoring the phone that was going off the hook in the background.
When Max's identity, along with the threat to katkind, was televised, everykat panicked. Of course, when you're told that your entire species is going to be wiped out, and then an alien appears, kats tend to think the worst. Of course, Max being arrested didn't do much to help, and it was less than an hour later that every news station in the city was reporting on it. The alien monster was in custody, and no further news came from the Enforcers about the oncoming attack or their plans with the alien.
Ann and Johnny had been treated by the first responders, both with thankfully few injuries, and were excused an hour after the attack. Knowing that she needed somewhere to grieve, he walked her back to her apartment. He was going to leave, but she asked him to stay. So he did, sitting on the couch next to her, gently hugging her as she cried. Of course, he was upset about Fellina's death, knowing that she was one of the best Enforcers in the city, but he also knew that she and Ann were best friends, and could only imagine what she was going through. The phone rang, asking for Ann to come report on what was happening, but they ignored them.
"It's gonna be okay," he told her after an hour of being together, just sitting on the couch as he helped her grieve (nothing inappropriate; their relationship was platonic, and they were both okay with that). "Seriously…"
"How could it be fine," she told him, looking at him, tears still on her face. "I… I lost my best friend, Lonestar's an alien, and you-"
"What," he asked, concerned by her expression.
"You… Johnny, you knew. You knew the whole time."
He gaped at her, too shocked to say anything for a few moments. "I… Annie-"
"I found a note," she told him, her voice barely above a whisper, and she wouldn't look at him. "By your phone… it mentioned a place called Texas. A place in a book Callie once found in the Turbokat. A book from the future. And tonight, when his disguise disappeared… I recognized him from that Halloween." She looked up at him. "How… how long did you know?"
Johnny hesitated; on one hand, he wanted to tell her everything. He loved her, and hated keeping this secret from her. On the other hand, he wasn't sure what his friends would say if they found out; right now, they were dealing with an attack, and he had no way of contacting them. Finally, however, he said, "I met Max a month or so before Halloween. I didn't know about the Swat Kats then; I was told that they'd just found him, and were keeping him hidden so the Enforcers wouldn't get him. But it wasn't until Turmoil's last attack that I learned who they really were. They needed my help… needed me to help look after Max as he recovered."
"Recovered," Ann asked.
"He… he was attacked, and it messed with his mind. Gave him PTSD. That's why he stopped his hero work; he was recovering, and even afterwards, he was too scared of having a panic attack during a battle." He paused. "I… I got mad at him earlier tonight, when I learned that you were in danger. I told him to stop being a baby and fight again, but he said no. It looks like he decided to come, but… now he's in jail, and everykat thinks he's an evil alien."
"Is he?"
He looked at her. "Of course not! He's… he's just like us," he replied, looking back at his girlfriend. "And know, I wanted to tell you. I really did. But I didn't know how to explain it… and… I was scared myself. Scared that you would leave me…" He hesitated, blinking a few tears from his eyes. "I… I'm sorry for not telling you sooner… please forgive me."
She hesitated for a few moments, seeming to think it over before she gave her answer. "I would never leave you," she told him, hugging him back, this time comforting him.
"But… you aren't mad," Johnny asked, surprised.
"No… I can't be mad at you. I never told you about Callie's investigation, or that I took that note from your apartment." She looked at him. "Guess we both kept some pretty big secrets, huh?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "But not anymore."
"Not anymore," she agreed, and they pressed their heads together and kissed, simply enjoying the company, silently comforting one another. It was a perfect moment, and for a second, Johnny considered pulling out the ring, but a knock at the door startled them both.
"Ann? It's me," Callie's voice came from the hallway. "Are you home?"
"Callie," Ann said, quickly getting off the couch and rushing to the door, opening it for her friend. They immediately hugged one another, both of them saddened by the death of their friend. "How're things happening at the office and the Enforcers?"
"They let the human go," she replied. "They're with the Swat Kats at Professor Hackle's house, and-" The deputy mayor noticed Johnny getting up from the couch, and let go of her friend. By the look on her face, she now knew that he'd been keeping the secret, and was probably wondering if he'd told Ann.
"I told Ann," he assured her. "I don't like keeping secrets from her, and right now, she needs to know."
"Good," Callie said, pulling out of the hug. "You two should come along."
"Why?"
"Right now, the news stations are reporting nothing but doom and speculation; right now, we need the city's best news team where the real story is happening."
Ann looked a little stunned at first, but then turned to Johnny. "What do you say," she said, giving him a small smile. "Up for reporting on how to save the world?"
He grinned, remembering why he loved her so much. "I'll get my camera!"
Of course, you can probably tell that the next chapter's gonna be interesting when they go to Void's house.
Also, as it comes to Johnny and Ann's relationship; they're just dating, but not in an inappropriate manner. I wanted their love for one another to be true, not based on physical stuff alone. Basically, they have a platonic relationship. Just wanted y'all to know that.
Feel free to follow or favorite this story to be updated on new chapters, and feel free to leave a review on this chapter or others if you want. And, as usual, have a safe and happy week/weekend!
-aggiefrogger
