Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
Sorry for the delay in posting, the past few weeks have been a living nightmare and this chapter suffered for it. MisaRae has taken the mess I wrote and turned it into something beautiful. Thank you my dearest friend!
Sally's eyes widened in something akin to horror as the reality of just who her daughter's new friends were sunk in. It wasn't that she had anything against the SWAT Kats. In fact, she truly admired what they did for MegaKat City. But visions of their daring escapades on the news flashed before her eyes, and terror struck at the thought of Sarah riding on the back of a Cyclotron with a Glovetrix firmly attached to her young paw, while charging into battle. "She is way too young to be joining SWAT!" Sally insisted, using the arm around Sarah's shoulders to swing her kitten close, hugging her tightly in a protective embrace. "What type of cats are you to put an innocent child in danger?"
"We would never put her in harm's way, Sally," Empress calmly replied. "Sarah is a junior member of SWAT, which allows her to train along with us, work on the vehicles, and be with her new friends. She is quite talented with her paws and she is going to be a great asset to every member. We all love her, and would never put her in a situation where she could be hurt. "
Jake arrived at the dojo after he tracked Felina down using her phone's GPS feature. As soon as he entered the dojo, he heard a commotion from upstairs. He quickly shucked off his shoes, thrust his feet into a pair of slippers, and took off running to try and defuse the situation.
"She is only five years old!" Sally said, her voice and body trembling despite the volume. "Sarah is not old enough to make this type of decision!" she protested..
"Mommy! They are not just my friends, they're my heroes! Why can't I be with them?" Sarah asked through a few sniffles as tears started to flow from her eyes.
Sally rubbed Sarah's back soothingly, even as her arms continued to hold Sarah close and replied, "Oh Sarah, what they do is very noble. Not many would risk their own lives for the sake of someone they don't know. But you are my only daughter, and if something happened to you, I don't know how I could ever live with myself!"
"As Empress said earlier, said earlier, we would never let that happen," Jake said as he made it up the stairs. "Your daughter has inherited your creativity, and seems to have a talent for making things, like the both of us. She is more than capable of being our apprentice. You should have seen her working right along with me in my metal shop. I only had to show her how to do something once, and she followed my instructions to the letter. Sarah actually made a fender after just one lesson. Then she used a computer program to create her own paint color, without any input from me whatsoever. Sarah loves us as much as we love her, and none of us would ever let her come to harm."
Sally let go of her daughter just long enough to crouch down and look into the lenses that covered Sarah's eyes. Sally then said, "Dear, I know you love your new friends and they obviously love you, too. But love won't always keep you safe." Sally realized what she had just said, but she still wavered. "You are my daughter, and I want you to both happy and healthy. I'm not sure what to do here."
"Mommy, I love them and I trust them. You've always said you want me to be strong like you are. Let me do this," Sarah pleaded.
Sally looked around the room at Sarah's friends, then asked, "Do you all promise that my daughter will be safe when she is with you?"
"I swear it on my life, Sally. She will be perfectly safe," T-Bone replied.
Sally turned back to face her daughter, hugged her tightly, then said, "Alright, you can be Apprentice." Her softened features suddenly hardened as she looked around the room again, tiny lines appearing between her eyebrows as she glared at the other adult cats in the room and said, "If she ever comes back to me with so much as a single hair out of place, I will personally hunt every single one of you down!"
Felicia chuckled, then said as she walked over to Sally, "I would expect nothing less from you, Sally. My mother was so overprotective of me when I joined the dojo over seventeen years ago, she actually threatened Master Yoso with bodily harm if her daughter came home with so much as a bruise." She then turned her head slightly to face Apprentice and asked, "Would you like to come down to the dojo with me? I have a few easy moves that I can teach you, and who knows? You might be able to kick the sour out of Mr. Sourpuss over there." As she spoke, she pointed at Chance.
"Hardy har har," Chance replied.
Felicia looked at her attire, then to the rest of the team, and asked, "When do I get my uniform? I want to see if it will restrict my movements."
Callie wiggled her nose and Felicia was engulfed in a bright white light. When the light faded, she was dressed very similarly to what Adonis wore, except the accents were angled more to enhance the female form. "What do you think, Sensei?"
Sensei left the room to look at herself in a full length mirror and could not deny she liked what she saw in the reflection. The main part of her uniform was very form-fitting and felt like a second skin. The silver accents curved gracefully around her body, showing off her curvy hips and chest perfectly without being too conspicuous, the matching boots blended in seamlessly with the rest of the uniform, and finally, the mask showed off the bottom half of her face, and her long, platinum blond hair was swept up into a high ponytail. Satisfied, she walked confidently back into the main room and replied, "I like it. Now to try it out. Come on, Apprentice. We have a few practice dummies that need some attention." She extended her right paw for Apprentice to take, and when she did, Sensei led her down to the dojo.
"Are you sure my daughter will be all right with her?" Sally asked after Apprentice disappeared down the stairs with Sensei.
"She will be perfectly fine, Sally. Felicia is a tenth-degree black belt and an excellent nurse. She grew up here under my watch. There isn't an inch of this place she does not know. On top of that, Felicia has mastered every lesson I have taught her to the point where she teaches five classes of her own when she is not at the hospital or instructing she-cats in a self-defense course she came up with herself," Yoso responded with pride in his voice.
"Wow, I had no idea such a young she-cat could do all of that," Sally said.
"Felicia is all that and more," Yoso said. "There was one time I had to drop something off at the hospital for her. I found her in the Pediatric wing playing with a bunch of kittens on the floor. Felicia has a heart of gold beating in her chest, Sally. She would do anything to see another cat smile."
"Yoso, dear," Natsume gently chided, "we all know you love Felicia, but our guest had a question she wanted answered before all this excitement." Natsume gave Sally an apologetic smile before continuing: "Sally, you wanted to know how big Inferno might be when he's fully grown. I think I have a possible answer, if you care to take a look." After she finished speaking, she walked over to a coffee table in front of the couch, gracefully fell to her knees, and opened the book she had in her left paw to a page she had marked earlier.
The rest gathered around Natsume and waited for her to read the passage, since it was written in Japanese.
"It says here that male dragons can grow to weigh as much as one thousand pounds. However, there are many factors that can affect its actual growth. The first one is the species of the dragon. That can be determined by the coloring of its scales and the shape of its head," Natsume said as she read from the book.
Both Empress and Caliber peered into the book, and recognized a dragon that looked very similar to Inferno in the upper right-hand corner of the page. "That might be him," Empress said as she pointed to the image of a salmon colored dragon.
"Hmm, interesting," Natsume said. "What you might have is a standard red dragon. Now according to this, he might weigh as much as nine-hundred pounds and stand at a full height of over fifteen feet when fully grown!"
Sally's eyes widened and her lips started to tremble when she heard Natsume speak about how big Inferno might get. She ever so slowly turned her head to face Natsume, her eyes pleading and silently asking if what she read was true.
"Not to worry, Sally," Natsume said as she put a comforting paw on Sally's left knee. "It will take several years for him to get that big."
"Whew, that is a relief," Sally said as she wiped her brow with her left paw.
"However, that is only true if he hasn't started breathing fire. If he has, then he is maturing eight times faster than a normal dragon should, if I am reading this right," Natsume said.
"Um, Natsume. There is something you need to know," Caliber said.
Sensei and Apprentice finished setting up the practice dummies exactly how Sensei wanted them. Once Sensei made sure that the floor of the dojo was safe for Apprentice to attempt a few karate maneuvers, she said, "Alright, Apprentice, what I want you to do is to kick the first dummy as high and as hard as you can."
Apprentice walked over to the dummy as Sensei instructed her, sized it, and kicked it roughly where its thigh would be.
The dummy rocked back and forth on its base from the force of Apprentice's kick.
Sensei rubbed her chin with her left paw, then said, "Not bad for your first try, but I think you need to limber up a little first. Try to mimic what I do." She opened up her stance, very wide, turned her body so it was facing her right thigh, then as she bent her right knee, she rested both of her paws on it, stretching her thigh muscles. After a holding that position for a few seconds, she repeated the same exercise on the other thigh.
Apprentice did her best to copy what Sensei was doing, but she couldn't crouch down quite as far as Sensei.
Sensei turned her head to see how Apprentice was doing and said to her, "You are doing better than I did when I first started, Apprentice. Who knows? Maybe when it's time for me to retire, you could take over this dojo for me. Then I will have to call you Sensei."
"You really think so, Sensei?" Apprentice asked as she stretched out her legs.
"Certainly. All you need to do is apply yourself and practice. Then you will be able to do this," Sensei said as she rose to her feet, walked over to the practice dummy, and rapidly swung her right leg at the dummy's fake head. The sheer force of her kick sent the dummy's head flying across the dojo to hit the opposite wall with a thud.
"That was amazing, Sensei!" Apprentice said.
"Thank you, Apprentice. Now it's your turn. Try to aim higher, and also try to use the opposite foot as a pivot point. Rotate your body with the kick to add more momentum and strength behind your kick," Sensei said.
"What do you mean?" Apprentice asked.
Sensei walked over to Apprentice, crouched down, and asked, "Which leg are you planning on kicking with?"
"My left leg, I guess," Apprentice replied.
"This is going to feel a little weird at first, but it is how you learn this maneuver," Sensei said. She put her left paw on Apprentice's right foot, her other paw on Apprentice's left calf, and lifted it into the air. She then swung Apprentice's leg at the dummy.
Apprentice left leg connected with the dummy, making it fall to the ground.
"I think I get what you mean, Sensei. Can I try again?" Apprentice asked.
"Sure, but why don't we try a smaller dummy this time," Sensei responded as she stood up and walked over towards a wall that was lined with practice dummies. She picked up a much smaller dummy and brought it over to Apprentice. She then said as she set the dummy down, "Now, I want you to try again, and this time, use your right foot to turn, just like I showed you."
Apprentice stood in front of the dummy, turned her body to the left, planted her right foot as Sensei had instructed her to do, and as she attacked with her left leg, she pivoted on the ball of her right foot. She was able to lift her left leg up high enough to strike the dummy between where its shoulder blades would be and sent it to the ground with a dull thud. As her body came to rest, she looked at the dummy and asked, "I did that?"
Sensei looked at the dummy laying on the ground, and then back at Apprentice before she responded, "Yes, you did, Apprentice. You were able to knock that dummy off of its footing all by yourself. You should be very proud of yourself. In fact, I think you should come here after school at least twice a week and take lessons from me or my master. With time and practice, you will become as good as I am."
"Really? I will be as good as you are?" Apprentice asked.
"Definitely, with lots of practice and the right instructors, of course," Sensei said as she looked Apprentice in the eyes. "Would you like to try something else?"
"Yes!" was all Apprentice could muster in reply, excitement flowing through her at the thought.
Sensei realized how eager her young pupil was, and that she was wearing a grin as wide as a Cheshire Cat's. She just had to smile right along with her, then said, "Follow me. Let's see how well you can hit with those paws of yours."
Alice arrived in front of the dojo, looked out of the passenger side window at the large torii gate, and let out a whistle of appreciation. She parked, got out of the car, and went around the front to the rear passenger side door. Alice reached out with her right paw and grasped the door handle before giving it a firm tug. The door swung open, and as she looked inside. As she looked inside, she said, "Alright, we are.. Oh, come on!" She had just been treated to the sight of Mark and Lisa, both shirtless, Mark with his pants undone and Lisa straddling his lap.
Upon hearing Alice's voice, Lisa jumped off of Mark and quickly tried to put on her shirt.
Once Lisa was out of his lap, Mark buttoned his pants, and slipped his shirt back on. He then said, "Another five minutes, and you would have been able to stick us with a cleaning bill!"
Lisa heard her husband, then slapped his arm, nice and hard. "I can't believe you told her what we were about to do," Lisa said as she got out of the car. "Remind me not to let you near me again anytime soon!" She then slammed the door, making her flaring temper known as she stalked away.
As the door slammed, Mark winced and watched her walk away from the limo with her hips swaying. He then said, "She can't stay mad at me for too long." He took another look at the way her hips and tail were moving, accentuated by her tight pants, and said, "Or at least I hope not." before getting out of the car.
Mark apologized to Lisa and promised that he would never discuss their romantic life with another ever again, even in jest. Just to make sure that Lisa thought he was sincere, he used an old trick that his father taught him that helped him make up with his mother, on more than one occasion. Mark's face slumped ever so slightly. Let his lips tremble, and used what his father called "Puppy Dog Eyes" on her.
Lisa noticed that Mark looked like a sad puppy that was left outside during a rain storm. She could not help but to forgive him, to a point. Lisa said, "Come here you big lug."
Mark went to give her a hug, but the look on Lisa's face and her demeanor stopped him cold. He ended up standing next to her as they watched Alice finish inspecting the interior of her car.
After Mark made up with Lisa so she was talking to him again, they said their so longs to Alice and watched as she drove away.
"I hope we get to see her again. I like her a lot," Lisa said.
"So do I dear. Now, shall we find out what this mysterious present our newest member has for you is?" Mark asked as he put his right arm around Lisa's waist.
Lisa turned her head to look at his arm and scowled. She calmly removed his arm from her and said, "I may be speaking to you again, but I'm off limits where your paws are concerned until further notice, my dear husband." Then she walked away from him towards the front door of the dojo.
Mark quickly caught up with her and tried to put his arm around her shoulder, which caused Lisa to elbow him in the gut and say, "I told you, paws off until further notice!" She then entered the dojo as Mark doubled over in pain.
Lisa removed her shoes and put on a pair of slippers as she muttered under her breath, "I love him, but why can't he learn to keep his paws to himself?" After she finished putting the slippers on, she entered the dojo and found Apprentice striking a large training pad that was being held by a she-cat wearing a SWAT uniform. Lisa walked over to them and asked, "Hey Apprentice, who's your friend?"
Apprentice stopped hitting the pad when she heard Lisa's voice, Apprentice turned her head to face the new arrival, then ran to her, yelling "Lisa!" as she flung her arms around her friend and almost tackled her to the floor.
"Hey, I missed you too, Apprentice," Lisa said as she wrapped her arms around Apprentice.
"You should see what Sensei can do, Lisa! She is amazing," Apprentice said.
Lisa lifted her head to look over at Sensei and recognized the long, platinum blonde hair that flowed from under her mask. Then Lisa lowered her gaze to Sensei's uniform, noted how well it fit her, and said, "I guess I get to give you your official welcome to SWAT, Sensei."
"Arigato, Pirouette," Sensei said as she walked over to Pirouette and Apprentice. "Our Apprentice is a very quick learner, and when she gets older, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with." She lowered her gaze to Apprentice, then asked, "Would you like to show Pirouette what you have learned?"
"Hai, Sensei," Apprentice responded, and let go of Pirouette to stand in front of one of the practice dummies. She turned her body away from the dummy, lowered her stance, and mentally prepared herself to strike. Apprentice focused on the dummy's midsection, narrowed her eyes, and kicked the dummy with all her might, while pivoting her body on the ball of her right foot, just like Sensei had taught her.
As Apprentice's leg connected with the dummy, her target not only rocked, it moved backward by a good six inches.
"Very good, Apprentice!" Sensei said. "You used the weight of your body to enhance the strength of your attack very well. I have a feeling you are going to be one of my best students."
Mark entered the dojo just as Apprentice's leg connected with the dummy. He watched as the dummy rocked, then actually moved from the force of her kick. "I didn't know princesses could kick like that. I'm going to have to watch myself around you."
Apprentice heard Mark's voice from behind her and ran over to him, her excitement plain in her face and voice as she called out, "Mark!"
Mark crouched down and held his arms open so he could catch the running kitten in them. However, he wasn't expecting her to jump at the last possible moment. The force of her leap and the enthusiasm of her hug made Mark lose his balance and fall onto his back, his strong arms closing around and holding her tight so he would take the brunt of the fall, and not her. "Are you alright, Apprentice?" Mark asked as he looked down at her still locked in his protective embrace.
"I'm ok, Mark," Apprentice replied and got off of him. "Did you see what I did?" she then asked.
As Mark got off of the floor, he responded, "Yes, I did, and you look stunning in your uniform."
"Thank you, Mark, but Sensei looks better in hers," Apprentice said.
"Sensei? Who is… Wow!" Mark started to ask, before he was interrupted by the sight of Sensei in her uniform which accented every sensual curve of her body.
"I'll take that as a compliment. My real name is Felicia Harrison. I was one of the nurses taking care of your fiancée, and I am the new master of this dojo." Sensei said.
"Pleased to meet you, Felicia," Mark said. "I really appreciate the way you, Nancy, and Dr. Feldman took take of my wife back at the hospital."
"Wife?" Sensei asked.
"Yes, this weekend I married this big hunk of love. That can apparently still be swayed by a she-cat in tight-fitting clothes," Lisa answered with her paws on her hips.
"Lisa, my ever-loving wife," Mark said as he walked over to her and put his arm around her waist. "She is definitely one hot she-cat, especially in that uniform. However, I belong to you alone."
Lisa once again removed his arm, giving him a censuring look before walking away. When she was halfway between him and Sensei, she turned back to glare at him before asking, "How many times do I have to tell you, paws off until further notice, dear?" She turned to Sensei, then asked, "Chance mentioned on the phone that you have a surprise for me. What is it?"
Sensei pulled off her mask, put her left arm around Lisa's waist, then replied, "I'm sure you're going to love it, Lisa. Let me go and get changed, then I'll show you your surprise." Felicia led Lisa upstairs, leaving Mark and Apprentice alone in the dojo.
Apprentice went over to Mark, tugged on his pant leg, and asked, "What did you do now?"
Mark could help but stare at the backs of the two she-cats who were heading upstairs as he responded, "I sort of told our driver that Lisa and I wanted to kiss a while longer, and Lisa took offence to it." He turned his head back to Apprentice, then said, "How about you show me what else you have learned."
Felicia quickly changed out of her SWAT uniform and took Lisa over to the storefront. When they arrived in front of the window with the large "Sold" sign, Lisa asked, "Felicia, why are we here?"
As Felicia opened the front door, she answered, "Why don't you come inside and find out for yourself?"
They entered the store, and Lisa's eyes roamed around the vast open space before her. She slowly stepped onto the wooden floor, and instantly felt the urge to start dancing. As she walked across the floor, her feet moved of their own accord just from the rhythmic sounds of her feet hitting the floor.
Mark entered the storefront after he brought Apprentice back to her mother and instantly noticed Lisa on the verge of breaking into one of her ballet routines. He leaned against a wall, pulled out his phone, and quickly shuffled through his music files to find the "Miniature Overture" from "The Nutcracker".
Lisa's ears picked up on the sound of the music, and the strains flowed through her body, coaxing her muscles into action as they remembered the steps to that particular ballet.
Mark was transfixed by the grace and beauty of Lisa's movements. Her body called to his, as intensely as when they made love, and he could not and would not resist the urge to join her. He changed the song to something they both could dance to and joined her on the floor. His paws found her waist and his hips moved in perfect time with hers.
Lisa looked into his eyes and put her arms around his neck. She then danced with her husband, nice and close. They moved as one the music continued to pour out of his phone. As soon as the song ended, Mark couldn't help himself and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. He pulled back from the kiss, then said, "That was our first dance as husband and wife. I hope to have many more of these with you."
"I'm going to have to stop you two there. I'm fond of you both, but I really don't need to watch you christen this place. Anyway, how do you like the space, Lisa?" Felicia asked.
"I feel at home in here. I like it," Lisa responded.
"Good, because this space is now yours, as long as you pay the monthly bills," Felicia said. "My master wanted me to expand the dojo into this store. However, after inspecting the wall separating the store from the dojo, I figured out that it dawned on me that despite my master's wishes, taking down the wall to make the two spaces one just wasn't going to work. According to Master Yoso, this was once a tap studio, which was when I thought of you, Lisa. This place will make an excellent dance studio, don't you think?"
"My own dance studio?" Lisa asked before she looked around the studio one more time, then said with a gleam in her eyes, "I love your idea!" She turned her head back to Mark and asked, "I want this so badly. Can we afford to do this?"
Mark could feel the way every muscle in Lisa's body quivered from more than just exercise. He would give anything to make her happy, and hoped he would never have to deny her anything. He responded, "I'm sure we can figure something out, Lisa. We might have to put off getting a house for a bit, but if you want this, we can do it."
Lisa brought her face within inches of Mark's, then said, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Lisa," Mark said. "Welcome to your new dance studio."
End of Chapter