A brief reminder:
"How's it going out there?" Jake asked, turning his attention back to the stove.
"Very good. The girls are having fun at our expense again. They keep talking about our tails," Chance said to Jake, while taking a piece of uncooked salmon.
Jake knew that Felina was forward and bold enough to talk like that, but Callie? What a surprise! She seemed so refined. Jake filed it away in the back of his mind, then said to Chance, "Is that what I think it is?" Pointing with a spatula at the small box in the corner.
Chance looked at his partner with a gleam in his eye, then the box, and replied, "Yes, it is."
"Moving a little fast, aren't you, Chance?" Jake asked.
"Not fast enough, buddy. I should have done this years ago," Chance replied.
"I'm happy for you, and Felina will be, too. So when are you going to ask her?" Jake asked.
"Not until this mess with Dark Kat is over and done with, Jake. I want to spend as much time with her as possible, and not be interrupted by him or any of the other criminals that are running around the city," Chance responded.
Jake had just finished plating the second course for the girls. Chance moved the plate over to the tray, and left the kitchen towards the awaiting girls.
Felina and Callie were picking at the fruit tray and making small talk while looking around at the garden paradise that Chance and Jake built in the middle of a salvage yard.
"I can see my garden looking like this once I have a house that I can call my own," Callie said, while looking at a pink rose off to her right.
"Those two toms definitely have a talent for this. Could this be the start of 'Megakat Salvage and Floral?'" Felina said.
Chance heard Felina's comment and answered her as he brought the second course out to the pair, "That would be a sight. Having cats bring their wives' cars in for a tune-up, and come home with a bouquet of flowers all at the same stop. On the other hand, it might work. I just need a pretty she-cat to run that side of things. That redhead who interned under you, Callie, might do the trick to bring the toms a running," Chance smirked at Callie.
"If you hire Felicia, I will tie your tail in a knot, Chance!" Callie said sternly.
"Simmer down, love. You are the only she-cat I have eyes for. Felicia does not even compare to you in any way, shape, or form. Don't you forget it," Chance replied to Callie, while placing her plate in front of her. Then he placed another plate in front of Felina.
"Thank you, Chance, but what about you and Jake? Aren't you going to eat with us?" Felina asked.
"We are eating in the kitchen. It's a little chaotic in there with all of the pans and prep work Jake is doing at the same time. Just sit back and enjoy the service and the food. He is really out doing himself in there," Chance replied, and then left with the empty tray.
Callie was the first to try the eggs and salmon. She said to Felina, "This is real good. Eat it while it's hot."
Felina tried the salmon first before the eggs. It was cooked to perfection. Then she took a bite of the eggs. They were a little too spicy for her, but she could grow to like them prepared that way. Felina then said to Callie, "The eggs were a little spicy, but the salmon was delicious. Where did Jake learn to cook? If he cooks all of my meals, I am going to be fatter than the desk sergeant at headquarters."
Callie replied, "I am sure that Jake will keep an eye on your figure, Felina. Besides, with our exercise routine, the only way you are going to get big is if you are having kittens. "
Felina choked on that response, knowing that she and Jake had been spending a lot of time in the bedroom. She then responded to Callie, "Not anytime soon. I hope."
It was Callie's turn to choke on her meal. She coughed and then looked Felina directly in the eye. Then she said, "You're kidding, right?"
Felina really didn't want her romantic life spilled in front of her friend, but it was out there already, so why not tell her the truth? Felina said, almost in a whisper so only Callie could hear, "Jake and I have been real careful as to what we do. I have to say, though, he knows how to tame a she-cat."
Callie never thought she would hear those words come out of Felina's mouth. She had to giggle at Felina's forwardness about the subject. Then Callie said, "Just be careful."
Jake was real busy in the kitchen making crepes for the third course as Chance arrived back with the empty tray. He said to Jake, "You want to take a break?"
"You know how to make crepes, Chance?" Jake asked.
Chance shook his head no.
"Well, I am almost done. Go grab the dirty plates from the table, then when I am done we can join the girls for the last course." Jake said.
Chance left the kitchen with an empty tray. He walked towards the table and saw that Felina and Callie had almost finished their second course. He asked just as the girls finished, "Can I take those plates, ladies?"
"Please do," Callie said after she wiped her mouth with a napkin.
Chance cleared the used plates and placed them on the empty tray. Before he left, he asked the two, "Can I refill your glasses?"
It was now Felina's turn to answer. She said, "Yes, we both would like a refill."
"Very well, my lady," Chance said, teasing the two girls when he realizing that they were playing with him. He filled both of their juice glasses and coffee cups up before walking back to the kitchen with his tail swaying for Felina's benefit.
Felina took a sip of her coffee, then said to Callie, "Something's up. I am not sure what he and Jake have planned, but something is definitely going on here."
Callie was also taking a sip of her coffee when she heard Felina. She looked at the way Chance was walking into the kitchen. She said, "Why Felina, I thought that you liked looking at his tail? I am sure that was just for you." Then Callie broke down laughing, slamming her fist into the table while placing her head down also.
"One day Callie, I will get even with you two. You won't see it coming, but I will have my revenge," Felina said to Callie.
"Oh come on Felina, you can poke fun at them, but you can't take it?" Callie asked after she stopped laughing.
"Yes, I can take a good joke Callie. I guess this is their way of getting even for the beach," Felina said.
Chance arrived back in the kitchen and put the tray of dirty dishes down, then he started to laugh hysterically. Jake looked over at his partner then asked, "What is going on out there?"
"Remember how I said Felina and Callie were taking about our tails? Well, I just gave those two more to talk about," Chance said between chuckles. Then he said, "How are those crepes coming along? I don't want to leave those girls alone too long, or they might think of a plan to put our tails in a sling."
"All done. Let's bring these out to the girls, we can all sit down and enjoy them together," Jake said as he rounded the stove to stand next to Chance.
"Ok, buddy, let's get out there to our fate," Chance said.
The two left the kitchen and walked towards the scheming she-cats. They placed the tray down and served the she-cats first before serving themselves. Jake said, "What you have before you is a fresh, handmade crepe with a sweet berry filling, dusted with powdered sugar." He sat down next to Felina.
The four ate the crepes causing a lull in the conversation as they focused on savoring the taste. That was until Felina got the idea in her head to feed Jake. She said to him as she held a fork full of crepe up to his face, "Open up."
Jake did as he was instructed. He opened his mouth, and Felina fed him the forkful of crepe. Sort of. She purposely missed, dusting his mouth with the sugar.
"Oops! Sorry Jake, let me clean that up for you," Felina said.
Before Jake could even respond, Felina was licking the powdered sugar from Jake's mouth while her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
Both Callie and Chance dropped their forks at the sight before them.
Jake's eyes were bulging out of his sockets at Felina's actions. He could not believe she was doing this right in front of Callie and Chance. But he went along with it anyway. He opened his mouth, and Felina entered it with her tongue as he wrapped his arms around Felina.
Felina broke the kiss and sat back down after she untangled herself from Jake. She then looked at the stunned group and said, "Gotcha."
"What do you mean 'Gotcha', Felina?" Jake asked her, still breathless from the kiss.
"Sorry Jake. That was not meant for you. It was directed at Callie and Chance," Felina said. Then she took a sip of water.
"What did we do, Felina?" Callie asked, turning her head to face her.
"That whole Chance and his swinging tail thing. Don't tell me you had nothing to do with that, Callie?" Felina responded.
"That was all my idea, Felina. Callie did not know anything about it," Chance said to Felina.
Felina turned beet red with embarrassment. "I guess I owe you all an apology, then. NOT!" She smiled, then said, "I always wanted to do that. This gave me a great excuse."
The whole group laughed at Felina's remark.
Jake finally stopped laughing and said, "You ladies want to see the Turbokat's hangar?"
Callie looked at Jake, then at Chance, and said "Sure."
Chance cleared the table of all the dishes, then motioned for the she-cats to follow him. He led them through the kitchen towards the garage. He did make a brief stop to place the box in his pocket before Callie could see it. Once in the garage, he reached behind a large tool chest and entered a code into a hidden keypad. That opened a hatch which led to the underground hangar and turned on the lights.
"After you, ladies," Chance said.
Felina went down the ladder first, followed by Callie. The guys followed after. The ladder opened up into a changing/gym area. There were two openings, one on either side of the room that they were in.
"That one," Jake said, pointing to the left, "leads to the hangar. The other one leads towards our underground training area. It's full of traps and such. You probably should not go into that room yet."
They all went to the left and walked into the hangar. There in all of its glory stood the Turbokat. Felina looked up at the jet and ran her paw down its belly to the wings. "Very impressive, you built this out of the scrap in the yard?" she asked.
"Yes. As I said before, you would be amazed what is out there. Down this way is where the Cyclotrons and other land vehicles are stored, and over there is where our armory is kept," Jake said to the she-cats.
Callie ran her paw over the Cyclotron. She had ridden behind T-Bone on one before. She had never forgotten the feeling of having all that power between her legs.
Chance saw how Callie was caressing the Cyclotron and asked her, "Care to take it for a ride?"
Callie looked at Chance and said, "If I only knew how, I would love to."
Chance replied to her, "I can teach you. It is very easy to ride one of these. It has a Gyroscope built into it, once it is above ten miles an hour, it balances itself so the rider can concentrate on using the weaponry."
Off in the back ground, the news on the TV came across with a news flash, "This is Ann Gora, Kats Eye News with a breaking story. Hard Drive has broken into Pumadyne Research and has taken some top secret project out of one of the military's labs. The Enforcers are already on scene and are trying to capture Hard Drive, although with little success."
"We had better get over there and help out the Enforcers, Jake," Chance said.
Jake was already running towards the lockers as Chance was speaking. "Way ahead of you, buddy," he said.
Chance and Jake opened up the lockers painted with a "T" and an "R" on them. They stripped out of their casual outfits right in front of Callie and Felina, and put on their G-Suits, followed by their masks and helmets. As T-Bone and Razor ran back towards the Turbokat, they stopped to kiss the girls for good luck, then T-Bone said, "If you want to, you can stay here or head back to the apartment complex. We will not be that long." Then they jumped into the cockpit of the Turbokat. The canopy lowered and the engines started. Both T-Bone and Razor gave the girls a salute before Razor triggered the catapult that launched them out of the hangar and into the sky.
"Now, that was impressive," Felina said as she watched the Turbokat fly off in the distance.
"That it was. Let's go back and watch on the TV," Callie said.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to leave those two alone in the hangar, T-Bone?" Razor asked.
"We said no more keeping secrets from them. What's the harm at this point?" T-Bone responded.
The pair arrived at Pumadyne Research to see Hard Drive up on the roof, and the Enforcers not having much luck in capturing him.
"Spider missile, deploy!" Razor said as he launched the missile at Hard Drive.
Hard Drive heard the missile heading towards him, and at the last second, he zapped himself into a nearby electric line.
"Crud, missed him," Razor said.
As he said that, the Turbokat crossed over the power lines leading to Pumadyne. Hard Drive took the opportunity to jump into the Turbokat's electrical system, causing T-Bone to lose control of the jet.
"What the heck happened, Razor? I have lost all control over the Turbokat!" T-Bone asked.
Suddenly, Hard Drive's face appeared on both radar screens simultaneously. "Got you now, SWAT Kats!" he said, with an evil laugh. Then Hard Drive put the Turbokat into a steep climb.
Callie and Felina both saw what was happening on the TV. Felina was the first to speak. "I am going there to help out."
"And what, leave me here by myself? I don't think so. That is the tom I love up there. I am going with you," Callie said pointing at the TV..
The two ran back towards the ladder. Then they both saw a second set of lockers with a "C" and an "F" painted on the doors.
They walked quickly to the lockers and opened them. Inside were another set of G-Suits. They took them out of the lockers and instinctively held them to their bodies.
"You thinking what I am thinking, Callie?" Felina said.
"That these were made for us? Then yes," Callie said as she started to remove her clothes and put on the G-Suit.
Felina followed suit. They both got their G-suits on. They were very similar to the ones that the guys wore, but were made out of a material that hugged their feminine forms like a second skin. The two looked at each other before looking back into the lockers to see a set of thigh high boots with a two inch heel made out of soft leather. They slipped into the boots and zipped them up. They found a set of masks and helmets to complete the transformation.
"Well, what do we call ourselves?" Felina asked, taking a good look at herself in the mirror and liking what she saw in the reflection.
Callie looked around and saw an old picture of the Emperor and Empress of East Asia. She thought about it for a few seconds, then said to Felina, "How does 'Empress' sound?"
"That sounds perfect!" Felina replied while thinking of a code name for herself. Felina knew she was real good with a gun of any caliber. Then it clicked in her mind. "Caliber it is, then," she said.
"Do you think you can ride the Cyclotron, Caliber?" Empress asked.
"You bet I can," Caliber said.
End of chapter