Space Kat

Nothing was around. Only broken windows, cobwebs that stretched for miles, and the stink that made his nose wonder if someone had died. His room was no better, and he had no bed to sleep in. Everything was moldy, old, worn, and appearing ready to collapse despite its concrete build. No matter how much he attempted, the list of problems kept growing. He felt a burning sensation and wanted to let someone have it. He'd break their teeth in if those two knuckled heads returned with the same attitude.

"You look like you're going to kill someone, buddy," a voice said near him.

He followed the floor, seeing a pair of legs, and following them up to see his best friend, Jake Clawson. A cinnamon-furred tom was lean, fit, and the calmest of the two. He was smart, like one of those techies in Puma-Dyne, which baffled him when he met Jake in the academy, wondering why Jake didn't go with a job that would make him rich. Jake's two answers to that question would be it boring to work under some suit and that his family had been blacklisted from ever applying for jobs in that company. That was the only thing Jake got defensive on, and he knew better than to poke the bear. Despite their situation, Jake always had his head up and put a positive spin on things.

He envies his friend's attitude and wishes he had the same patience. But it's not that simple as he, Chance Furlong, always let his temper get the best of him and would prefer to swing at things than talk about it.

"Just thinking about our situation. You got to admit, Jake, this is a shitty situation. There's nothing but crud and broken things. I think I saw a rat scurrying around, and I hope there's no nest. Then again…" Chance stopped, leaning back against the musty couch. The one decent thing they had. "This is our new life."

"Hey, we will figure things out. We always do, and hell, maybe we could…"

"Maybe what?"

Jake rubbed his head and shook his head. "Forget about it. I will keep cleaning and take a look at our bathroom's condition. Hopefully, there are no issues there, or we have to build some pipes from the junk outside," he said, heading towards the stairs.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Chance said.

Jake poked his head back and grinned. "What can I say? My mind is just a library of things," he said. He ducked back, and the creaking floors began.

"Seriously, is there anything you can't do?"

"COOK!"

Chance snorted, shaking his head and drifting further back. His smile faded, and his scowl returned.

Once they graduated from the academy, they were lucky to impress the higher-ups and get a spot in the flight unit right away instead of doing grunt work for the first year. Four good years of accomplishing so much and removing bad guys from the sky. They took risks and kept going when others would back out, which made them loved and hated at the same time. Jake had warned him that some superiors were not eyeing them well.

The highest-ranking officer, Commander Ulysses Feral, already hated their guts and their disregard for following orders. They and Feral wouldn't do anything to them since they brought results, and it appeared they were waiting for something to pin them to the ground. Feral pulled the trigger, yet Jake theorized others had slowly motivated the idea of this punishment into that tom's head, though he could not prove that instead of going with a gut feeling. Chance did not care who did what, feeling all the Enforcers were the same as even his friends kicked him down and disassociated from him as the news broke.

This hit hard, feeling like kats were showing their true colors to him and Jake. It hurt so much as his life crumbled with every hit. They stripped them of their rank, reposed their things to cover a minuscule of the enormous debt, credit card scores hit zero, and they lost everything in the blink of an eye. His girlfriend at the time abandoned him so quickly, and she called to break things off, which stung as she hung up on him before he could say anything. The last hit was their only choice: pay with jail time or stay as lowly salvage yard workers. Oh yes, they were still Enforcers but at the bottom of the food chain and even lower than privates.

"Our attorneys couldn't do shit. They got steamrolled with Enforcer laws and had no chance of letting us find better jobs to pay off the debt. Maybe Jake was right…"

"Hey, at least you admit it," Jake called out.

Chance jumped a bit and glared at Jake. "How long have you been standing there? You nearly scared the tail out of me!" he growled.

"I just got here, buddy," Jake said, heading towards the couch and plopping on the other side. Water dripped from the side of his furry cheeks, and he had changed out to different clothing. He smacked Chance's chest and chuckled. "I was calling your name, and you didn't respond. Have you not moved from this spot?"

"Huh?" Chance said, glancing out of the small office space's broken glass to the garage and into the outside. It seemed he was on a couch for a bit, and the sun was setting. He groaned, shifting forward and covering his face. "Crud! I'm such an idiot. I barely did anything…"

"Hey, ease up, Chance. There is always tomorrow. The shower works, by the way, and thankfully, hot water," Jake said, leaning back on the couch. "Don't be such a sourpuss like Feral and take a shower. We will figure…"

"ENOUGH!" Chance roared. He stood up and paced around the office space before he grabbed something to break a wall. "God, buddy, I love how you can be so optimistic about things. But look around us! Trash surrounds us and things that nobody wants! It's such a fucking gut punch to be treated like that… like trash," he said.

Jake initially flinched at Chance's outburst, his smile dropping and rubbing his neck as he looked at Chance. "Chance… let's just take a moment and…"

"Jake, please don't tell me to calm down. Sureshot, you can't be alright with this situation. Aren't ya mad about what they did to us?" Chance said, stopping and tapping his toes. He rubbed his face and stifled another roar. It was humiliating to be treated like this. Then again, he could have prevented Jake from suffering this fate. How could he do something like this to his best friend? To someone he felt was his little brother? "I should have… I should have just backed out when Feral ordered me. Then maybe you wouldn't be in this shit hole with…"

"STOP!" Jake shouted. He stood up, and his fur bristled as he walked towards Chance. He pulled on his shirt and forced Chance to look at him. "Never say that again. I could have talked you out of it, but I didn't. We both disobeyed orders and got into trouble together. Don't ever blame yourself for what we did together! If you ever say that again, I'll kick your ass!"

Chance shook, never seeing Jake so angry. He was bigger and taller than Jake, but Jake stood like a giant before him. Then the giant started to tear up, gritting his teeth and placing his head on Chance's chest.

"It hurts, Chance," Jake whispered, shaking and sobbing. "It fucking hurts. Don't push me away. Not like my… don't push me away. I need you more than ever, so don't do it."

Chance gripped his brother and pulled him close, lowering his head and resting on his shoulder. He let out his frustration and nuzzled him. He cursed himself for causing Jake to cry and wished he kept his big mouth shut.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I'm so fucking sorry."

They kept holding each other for a while and vented their anger with muffled sobs. With a pat on the back, both broke off, with Jake staying in the garage and Chance heading upstairs to shower. It was a long day, and they needed to prepare for another day in their new home.

Chance reached his room, grabbed his clothes from his duffle bags, and stopped to look at his abysmal room. It needed so much work before he could consider it a room. The broken window and the floor were no better with various trash. There was no way either were sleeping in their rooms tonight.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of this?" he whispered, leaving and heading to the shower.

Chance blinked, wondering where he was till the grimy ceiling reminded him he no longer lived in an apartment. Day three, and they still were cleaning up. He sighed, pushing the bedding off him and glancing to the side to confirm his suspicion.

"Early bird Jake is already up and at it. Seriously, does he ever sleep in or anything?" Chance muttered, groaning as he felt stiff after sleeping on the couch. He was in a rather uncomfortable position, and his back was already crying at him to find a bed. "Crud, this stinks. Cool it, Furlong. Just try to finish cleaning things. We cleaned the apartments upstairs, the living room, the shower, and the rest. There is some minor handyman service here and there, and we can make it a decent bachelor pad…. A real crummy one."

Chance exhaled, slapping his cheeks to wake himself. "Be like Jake… let us take one step at a time. You are at rock bottom. The only way is up. Shit, I sound like a dork," he said. He shifted up and stretched.

They had some money, though it was enough to cover two weeks. Chance wished to buy breakfast, but they had to be innovative and spend their money wisely. Maybe he should ruffle something for them before Jake killed or burned them. How does someone mess up a simple dish so quickly?

Without another word, Chance made it upstairs and headed to the kitchen. He was grateful they found and fixed the refrigerator yesterday. They bought some groceries, filling it with essentials and whatever they could afford—one pan they owned to their name.

"It gets better and better," Chance sighed, turning on the stove and opening some eggs.

Within a few minutes, he finished two breakfast sandwiches and grabbed a couple of milk cans from the fridge. He made his way back downstairs and looked around for his friend. However, before he could call him out, his ears perked at the sound of an arcade theme song and something getting blasted.

"Huh? I was sure we had no working arcades here," Chance said, exiting the small office and entering the garage.

He followed the sound, avoiding the metal and trash, heading towards a corner, and seeing a red arcade with blue lines on the side. The computer played itself while inviting him to play with flashing text telling him to hit start. He looked up, seeing the name of it: 'Space Kat.'

"No way! Talk about old times!" he said, setting the plates and cans to a nearby chair. That's when he noticed a rolling skid nearby and a trail of what he supposed was oil leading back outside. Jake appeared with a plastic cover on hand at the entrance.

"Aw, crud! I was going to surprise you. So much for the cover," Jake grumbled, heading inside and approaching Chance. "So, what do you think?"

Chance felt his heart tug and inspected the arcade once before looking at Jake. He wanted to run to the tom and hug him, though he controlled himself before he got emotional. "What do I think? You are the greatest tom cat that ever lived. Thank you, Jake. I owe you one, buddy."

"Aw, Chance, don't start waterworks on me," Jake joked, poking his friend's stomach. His eyes sniffed the air, and his stomach growled. "Thank the gods you are here, or I think I would kill myself by trying to make myself food!"

"Here, hopefully, you enjoy Furlong's special egg sandwich," Chance said. He handed the food to Jake. He picked up his own and opened his can of milk. "So, where did you find this gem?"

"I spotted this gem when going on a jog, a bit beaten up, but thankfully, there was another arcade nearby with parts to fix this one. Of course, I could have picked the other one… but I feel Kitty Bubble Pop isn't your jam."

Chance chuckled, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah, no thanks. Sounds like a girly game," he said. He took a swing of his drink. "Though regardless, I would have appreciated the sentiment."

Jake cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really, I can always take this one down and…"

"No! Space Kat stays!"

"You are such a kitten, buddy."

Chance stuck his tongue out and chuckled. He turned to look at the game. "Think I can score a million points within a month?"

"Probably, though. Let's finish cleaning up first, or we will never be able to finish," Jake said, taking a gander around and sighing. "Lots of things for us to throw, breakdown, salvage, and much more. Of course, then fix the sign outside and then start gaining customers. We cannot rely on just running the salvage yard, and we need the garage operational as soon as possible to bring more money in."

Chance felt terrible seeing the grim face on Jake's face. Jake knew their situation was dire, and they had few options to bring cash fast, especially when they had ridiculous bills to pay. However, Jake was correct that they needed to keep their heads, and Chance needed to be there when Jake fell.

Chance wrapped a hand around Jake and tugged him close, letting out a laugh. "You and me, buddy. We got this! The universe can wait to be saved."

Jake chuckled, putting his arm around Chance's back. "Of course! Nothing will bring us down, and as long as we got each other, I feel like we can take on anything."

-The End-

AN:It is a bit of a side story based on something I brought up in the new version of Alone in Hell's chapters (Chapter 4). I'm currently rewriting the twenty chapters before I move forward with the story and I'm trying to fix some issues. Technically, this is also a standalone short and alternative universe where Jake did not bring up the Swat Kat idea when they got dropped off at the salvage yard. I might mess around with how the Dark Swat Kats started.