Title: Feelings

Author’s name: Collin Blake

Submitted: November 2001

Edited: February 2002

Email: turbokat@email.com or ncc_63549@hotmail.com   

Disclaimer: This is a FAN FICTION, and is not intended to make any money.  If anybody sends me money, they will get it back.  I write for love of Swat Kats, nothing more.  (Swat Kats copyrighted by Hanna-Barbara.)

Author credit: The idea of Jake going to Callie’s place alone was also used in “Unmasked” by James L. King.  My outcome and story may be completely different, but the idea was his first.  

Teaser:  Feelings run deep.  With everyone, a secret lives inside.  And surprise is everywhere, even in the hearts of the Swat Kats.

To reader:  *Warning* this is a Romance/Action fan fiction, and it’s good (Not meaning to brag).  I just wanted to write something I thought would happen (had the series continued), and write it true to the series.  (And, not a romance involving Jake and Chance.  That‘s just not good.) Comments and critique are always welcome.  So...  We begin... 

Chapter 1:

(The salvage yard, Chance is sitting on the couch watching “Scardy Kat.”  While Jake has just finished repairs on a customer’s car (a very attractive She-Kat) and is wishing her a good day.)

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have any more problems with the exhaust.  And, if for some reason you do, just bring it back and I’ll fix it up for ya’,” Jake said as he put down the hood.

“Thank you.  You really got this old thing fixed fast,” complimented the customer as she got into her car. “You’re really good.”

“Ah it was nothing,” Jake replied, putting his paw on the back if his head in a bashful manner.

 She started the car, then turned to Jake and smiled. “Thanks again.” 

Jake called out to her as she drove off, “You’re welcome!  Have a Good day!”...

And as she drove out of sight, he turned back to the garage and said to himself, “Real smooth, Jake, couldn’t even get her name.”

Jake walked into the living room with a shot down look on his face. As he passed by the TV, Chance noticed that his buddy was down and stopped laughing at the TV show. “Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?”

Jake pulled his head up, “Ah, nothing Chance…,” he said, trying to act if nothing was wrong.

“Nothing?  Was there something with the customer?”

“Not really,” answered Jake, who looked to change the subject.

“She was really pretty…  Were you putting the moves on her, Jake?” Chance said in a joking manner.  “Yeah, I could hear you two from in here, you sure are a suave Kat, Jake.”   After that, Chance started to laugh.

“Very funny,” Jake said sarcastically, “Can’t you just leave it …..”

“RING! RING! RING!”

The alarm started to go off. 

Chance stopped laughing and rushed over to answer the deputy mayor.  He slammed his paw against the intercom button. 

“Yes, Ms. Briggs, what’s the problem?”

“Swat Kats, we’ve got a problem over here at MegaKat Biochemical Labs!  Dr. Viper is back and he is after the new experimental steroid, mutagen 41.  He’s on floor 23, making a huge mess of the place.”

“No problem, Ms. Briggs, we’re on our way!”  Chance hit the button again, turning off the intercom and, with Jake, ran down toward the hanger…

Chapter 2

As the TurboKat arrived over MegaKat Biochemical, both T-bone and Razor couldn’t get a good visual of what was going on inside. Landing on the roof, they leaped out and kicked the roof door open.   They rushed inside and down the stairs to floor 23.  As they entered the floor, they arrived face to face with Dr. Viper escaping.

“The Swat Katssss!” he hissed as he backed up in surprise.

“Fun’s over, Viper,” T-bone said as he raised his glovatrix to fire a net over Viper. 

As he aimed for a good shot, Viper’s flying plantamals arrived and attacked the Swat Kats.  Dodging their first assault, T-bone and Razor got both creatures in nets.

“Ha, is that all you got for us Viper?” T-bone said, all cocky.

“Curse you, Ssswat Kat!” Viper hissed. 

Just then, Ms. Brigg’s scream could be heard from the room Viper had seemed to come out of.    

“Ms. Briggs!” both Swat Kats yelled.

A evil grin grew over Viper‘s face.  “Well, what is it going to be, Ssswat Katssss?  Get the crook, or save the girl?..  Ahaha!” Viper hissed as he threw a biochemical smoke bomb in their faces, then ran away.

“Crud!” T-bone said, frustrated, waving away the smoke.  Thinking quickly, he said,  “Razor, you go get Callie, and I’ll get Viper!”  Then, he ran away to catch up with Viper. “Meet up in t-minus five minutes,” he called back.

“Alright, be careful!” Razor called back as T-bone ran out of sight. Then, Razor turned around and sprinted over to the room.  He grabbed the handle to find it was extremely hot. “Ouch!”   Then, he stepped back and kicked the door down to find the room engulfed in flames.  “Ms. Briggs!” he called out, but received no answer.  He ran in with his head tucked down, calling “Ms. Briggs!” repeatedly.   Soon, he started calling “Callie!”  

With the smoke so thick and his frustration growing, he fell to the ground to get under the smoke.  After a few moments, he found the Deputy Mayor out cold on the ground. He checked her pulse. She was alive. Then, he looked for something to cover her face and protect her from the smoke.  With nothing in sight, he took off his helmet and mask and put both of them on her.  Picking her up, he ran out of the room.

As Ms. Briggs was picked up, she regained continuousness and opened her eyes to barely see the Kat carrying her.  It was Razor without his mask.  He didn’t seem to notice her.  Quickly, she shut her eyes because the smoke was too much. 

‘Is that who I think it is?’ she thought to herself.  ‘No it couldn’t be...’

When Razor emerged from the flames, T-bone was there, calling to him.

“What are you doing?” he yelled, “You’ve got your mask off!”

“Relax, buddy, she’s unconscious. And, my bandana was the only thing I had to keep the smoke from getting into her lungs,” Razor returned as he gently set her down and took back his helmet and mask from her.

All the while Ms. Briggs was awake, but she kept her eyes closed to remain “unconscious” in the minds of the Swat Kats.  

Razor checked her pulse once again to see that it was stable.  It was normal, so he stood up to put his gear back on.

“Jake, you got to be more careful, buddy.  What if the enforcers were standing out here instead of me.  What would they have done if they knew who you were?  Coming out of the blaze there was no possible way to know who or what was out here,” T-Bone said in a cautious voice. 

“Hey, buddy, the mask was the only thing I had to save Callie.  And, nothing happened - don’t be such a Scardy Kat,” Razor said, placing his helmet on his head. “And, don’t you mean Razor, buddy?” Razor said, looking at T-bone. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” T-bone replied.  “Now, let’s get out of here before Feral shows up and blames this on us.”

“Right, but first let’s drop Callie off at the hospital,” Razor said.

At the sound of this, Ms. Briggs made a little move of her paws and legs to indicate that she was waking up from the shock.  When the two Kats noticed this, they rushed over to help her up. “Ms. Briggs, are you okay?” Razor asked.

She acted the best she could, trying to still seem shocked, “I’m okay.  Thank you Swat Kats so much.”

“Ah, it was nothing, Ms. Briggs,” replied T-bone boastfully.  Right then, the three of them heard Enforcer sirens approaching.  “Well, that’s our cue.  C’mon, Razor.  Goodbye, Ms. Briggs,” T-bone said.

“Goodbye, Ms. Briggs,” Razor repeated.

Both Swat Kats rushed out of the hall and retreated to the roof.  

As they run out of sight, Ms. Briggs turned and walked over to the window.  She looked out of it and saw the TurboKat above in the sky flying away.  She smiled and said to herself in a very quiet and happy voice, ”Jake is Razor.”  As the TurboKat flew out sight, she thought, ‘Who would have ever guessed?’    

On the way back home, Razor asked T-bone, “Hey, T-bone, whatever happened to Viper?”

Quietly, and as he gritted his teeth, T-bone replied in a frustrated voice, “He got away.”

Chapter 3

The next day during breakfast the phone rang.  Jake, who was closest to the phone, answered.

“Hello?… Ms. Briggs?  The expression on his face went from confidant to scared.  “Umm … can I come over today for repairs on your car?  Umm..,” Jake was panicking.  Not knowing what to say next, he looked at Chance.

“She just wants you?” Chance asked.

“Umm.. Ms. Briggs, you just want me to come down there?.. Ohh…. Only a one person job?”  He looked at Chance with a confused look on his face. “Umm, let me check our schedule.  One sec, Ms. Briggs.“ He looked at Chance to answer the question.

“The only thing we have scheduled for today that I remember is a tune up for Mr. Jefferson. One of our only real ‘regular’ customers,” answered Chance.

“I don’t want to go alone - this is Callie we are talking about here,” Jake pleaded as he put his paw over the phone.

“Jake, just go. It’s sad enough that we only have one thing to do today, but even worse that Callie called for your help.  Just go, I can handle Jefferson,” Chance said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.  “Now, get out of here.”

“Uh, okay buddy…,” Jake said as he turned back to talk into the phone, “Uh, Ms. Briggs, can you drive down here?...  Won’t start?  I see...  How about in thirty minutes?…  Okay then thirty minutes… Where again?… Your house?  I know where that is.  Second right, house number #17.  Okay, right, see you then.  Bye.”  As he hung up the phone, he looked at Chance and said, “Sorry,” knowing that Chance would have wanted to go.

“Yeah well, you‘re better at fixing up engines than I am, so… whatever.” The jealously still present in his voice.

Jake got his stuff ready and packed it all up in the truck.  He heard Chance call out to him, ”Don’t do anything stupid!”  Jake, looked back with a look on his face of, ‘yeah right, there is no way I couldn’t screw this up’, got in the truck and drove off.

When he arrived at Callie’s, she was outside waiting by the garage.  Jake got out and walked up to her.  “So, where’s this problem?” he asked, trying to be as confident as he could be.

“Oh, it’s right here”, she pointed to her car.  “But, first, I haven’t had anything to eat this morning. Care to come inside for a drink before we get started?”

Jake, shaky and reluctant, agreed, and they both went inside her house. All the while Jake kept repeating in his mind, ‘Don’t do anything stupid.  Don’t do anything stupid.’

“What would you like to drink, Jake?” asked Callie as she opened the refrigerator.

“Milk is fine with me,” he answered as he stood, not knowing where to sit.

“You can sit anywhere you want to, Jake” Callie said, noticing him standing awkwardly.

“Oh, okay…”  he looked around frantically for a place to sit, then found a comfortable seat on her couch.

“Here you are,” Callie said as she handed him a glass of milk. Then, she sat down on the chair across from him, with her breakfast in hand.  “Oh my, I’m sorry,” she apologized, noticing that she hadn’t offered him something to eat.  “Did you want anything to eat, Jake?” she asked.  

“No thank you, Ms. Briggs” Jake said a little shakily.

“You can call me Callie, Jake.”

Thrown off by the statement, Jake answered, “Umm…  Okay, no thank you, Callie,” he corrected himself.

They sat there for a while discussing things as Callie ate.  Slowly, Jake’s confidence grew to where he could talk to Callie without much trouble.  When she was done eating, she got rid of her plate.  As she returned to the couch she found Jake getting ready to get up to go to work.  “Hold on a sec Jake,” she said to stop him form getting up.  He stayed down with a curious look on his face. “Jake I have something I would like to talk to you about.”   She sat next to him on the couch.

“Okay Callie.”  Jake was still not sure what she was trying to get at.

“I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my life yesterday.”

Jake, knowing what she was talking about, tried to play dumb and asked, ”What?  Save you yesterday?  What are you talking about, Ms. Briggs?  Oops, I mean, Callie.” 

“Jake. I don’t know how to put this in words, so here it goes…  I love two men…  One is a person I go to for help when I need it, and the other is a person who helps me when I get into trouble…  I saw you carry me out of that room without your mask on at MegaKat Biochemical labs.  And, then I heard T-bone, or should I say Chance, call you Jake.  At that moment, I was overjoyed to find out that the two people I loved in this world were the same.  She looked right into his eyes, Jake...  Razor…  I love you.”

Completely stunned, Jake was silent.  Inside, his heart grew so bright with joy.  To hear that the girl he had loved for so long loved him back.  It was indescribable.  And that she had found out the identity of the Swat Kats.  Slowly, he asked, ”When?  For how long?” inside he was thinking ‘How could a beautiful She-Kat like her like a Kat like me?  Am I dreaming?’   

Callie, knowing that Jake was lost in emotions, moved closer to him on the couch.  She placed her paw on his and tried to explain.  “Well, I first saw you back when you were an enforcer.  At first it was just a little crush, but, when that never ended, I found myself in love with you.  Something about you made me fall head over heals.  And, when you and Chance were dismissed from the Enforcers, I couldn’t give you up.  So, when I found out that you were assigned to the salvage yard, I decided where I would go for my tune-ups and such.  Then, the Swat Kats showed up, and they or you two kinda became my protectors.  Whenever I have gotten into trouble, you are always there to save me.  I fell for Razor a while later, when he would always come to save me. He is my night in shining armor.  You can imagine my joy when I found out you two were the same Kat.  My dreams had come true in the best way.”  She looked up into Jake’s eyes. 

“You don’t have any troubles with your car, do you, Callie?” asked Jake, still blown away. 

After the question Callie smiled, moved in close, and softly kissed Jake. 

After the kiss, she purred, “Not really, Jake”, and she kissed him again.

Jake, still amazed at Callie, felt her warm body against his.  And, although very scared, after that second kiss, Jake put his arms around Callie and kissed her back.     

Chapter 4

Jake stayed at Callie’s for the rest of the day before he left.  On the ride home Jake felt full of contentment inside.  He had found the girl of his dreams, and she had found him too.  But, in the back of his mind, he knew that Chance would find out, and he had no idea how to tell him, or what his reaction would be.   Chance was the slick one, not Jake.  He was the one who got all the girls, and for Jake to get the girl he really wanted.  It worried Jake so much.  He was so happy to be with Callie, and he just imagined what Chance would feel.  He would have felt the same if the circumstances were reversed.  When he arrived back at the salvage yard, he found Chance inside watching the news. 

“Hey buddy, when did you decide to start watching the news?” he asked to get the thought of Callie and himself out of his mind.

“Aw, nothing good’s on - I was just flicking through channels,” answered Chance. Then, he suddenly remembered where his partner had been all day.  “Hey, how was Callie’s?” he asked with curiosity.  But, when Jake was reluctant to answer, he turned to look at his face, finding Jake with a depressed look on his face. “What’s the matter - couldn’t fix it?  Or was it that you said something stupid in front of her face cause you were too nervous?” he started to chuckle…. Then, noticing Jake still not saying anything, he got up and walked over to him.  He put his hand on his shoulder, ”Hey, Buddy, what’s wrong?”

Jake looked slowly up at him, knowing he couldn’t lie, and said slowly, “Callie’s in love with me.”

“Wow!…  That’s why she called you over!  So, what happened - what did she say?!?” asked Chance in a very enthusiastic voice.

Jake, surprised to find Chance’s reaction so pleasant, told Chance all about what happened.  About when she noticed him, why she fell in love with him, and Razor.  And, even about her knowing their identities.  All of it.  And, Chance never once got angry or upset, but was the complete opposite, full of joy, and enthusiasm for his best friend.

 “Wow, buddy, I was really scared to tell you.  I didn’t know how you would take it,” admitted Jake to Chance when his story was finished.

“Me?!?  Are you Crazy?  Why would I get mad?” Chance asked.

“Well, I know how you feel about her…,” answered Jake in a softer voice.

“Hey Jake, forget it, you two are happy together, and in love.  Don’t worry about me. You got a great girl to take care of now, remember that,” Chance said.  

“Yeah, you’re right, buddy,” Jake agreed with confidence.

“What, are you crazy?  Of course I am!” Chance said with pride.

“Thank you, buddy - you’re the best friend a Kat could ask for,” Jake said to Chance.  He was so happy his friend had reacted to this situation the way he did.

“Hey, don’t get all sentimental on me.  You’re welcome,”  Chance sat back down on the couch. ”And, the same goes for you too.”  He turned part of his attention back to the TV.

“Alright, hey, I am going down to the hanger to load up the TurboKat and work on that new armor plating.  Wanna come help?” Jake asked.

“Are you crazy?  There’s an all night long marathon of Scardy Kat on in two minutes!  And, these are the first season’s episodes, the Classics!  I’m not going to miss it,” Chance answered.

“I should have known, “ Jake replied sarcastically because he knew when his friend got into that show nothing could make him change his mind.  “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be in the hanger.”  Jake walked down to the hanger.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Chance called as Jake walked away.

Chance then turned and faced the TV, with a lot on his mind... 

Later that night, when Jake finally came up out of the hanger, he could hear the sound of the TV on.  When he entered the TV room, sure enough there was Scardy Kat and Chance on the couch watching it.  But, something strange caught Jake’s attention.  Chance wasn’t laughing.  He always laughed at Scardy Kat, rerun or not.  Even if he had seen the episode 100 times, he still would laugh as if it were the first time again.  He wasn’t asleep; he was just sitting back on the couch, looking at the TV.  As if lost in thought.  

Jake walked over and asked, “Hey, buddy, are you alright?” he asked.

Chance, as if pulled from sleep, was startled and answered, ”Yeah, buddy, what’s wrong?”

“That’s what I asked you.”

“What, me?  Nothing’s wrong.  Why?  What could be wrong?” Chance asked, trying to get Jake’s question off his back.

“Well, you weren’t laughing,” said Jake.

“At what?” asked Chance

“At Scardy Kat.  You love that show.  Every time you see it, you laugh your fur right off.  But, you weren’t right now.  So, what’s on your mind, buddy?” Jake asked in a concerned voice.

“Oh that, well, I was just wanted to relax, and I’ve seen this episode a lot, and instead of laugh, I was just relaxing.  Jefferson’s car gave me some trouble today, and I need to relax,” Chance answered in a calm voice so as to not let Jake know that there was something wrong.

“You sure you’re alright, buddy?” Jake asked one last time.

“Yeah, Jake, I’m okay. Now get some rest.  You need it - you’ve had a big day.”

“Okay, what about you?  How late are you gonna be up?”

“I’ll probably just fall asleep down here, eventually,” Chance answered in a melancholy voice.  

“Alight, see in you morning, buddy.” Jake said as he left to go to bed.

“You too,” replied Chance.  As Jake walked upstairs, Chance turned back to the TV.  “Glad that’s over,” he muttered as he rested his head back against the head cushion.  ‘You should have told him the truth,’ he thought.  ‘You should have told him how you really feel…’

“But, he is my best friend - I can’t do something like that to him.  Even if Callie does love him,” he said out loud to himself to silence his thoughts. 

Then, he thought, ‘Look, Jake is my best friend, my partner, practically my brother.  I can’t let my jealousy get the best of me.  And, it’s not like he did it to me on purpose.  He loves her just as much as I do, and I can’t destroy that which he and Callie share.  But, it really does hurt…  Life’s just full of surprise.’  He laughed to try to feel better, but it didn‘t help…  ’So I guess you just got to stand tall in front of the change and not let it get you down’… and soon after that thought Chance fell to his side and fast asleep.

Chapter 5

The next morning Chance kept his act up and didn’t let Jake notice what was wrong.  But, he was still very much emotionally hurt.  They went through the day with a couple of business, but not much.  Which gave Jake a great opportunity to finish those new modifications to the TurboKat.

Trying to get Callie and Jake off his mind, Chance came down to help Jake with the new modifications. 

“Sure, no problem, Buddy.  How about you take the right wing, I’ll take the left.  We have to put on this new armor.  In that last fight with Dark Kat these wings took a pretty good beating.

“Yeah, that was quite a fight, huh, Jake?” Chance said as he started to remember.

“I’ll say, but we got out of it on top, all because of the best pilot in MegaKat City,” Jake said as he looked at Chance with a smile.

“Best pilot huh?” Chance said, and thought, ‘Then, why didn’t Callie pick me?’   He stopped moving after his thought.  ‘Ahh!  Why can’t I stop thinking about it?  Everything Jake says makes me get all jealous, and I can’t think straight.  What is wrong with me?’ Chance thought to himself.  ‘Get a grip Chance!’

“RING! RING! RING!” called the alarm from across the room. 

Both Chance and Jake quickly turned their attention to the intercom. 

Jake ran over to answer Callie as Chance was reluctant at the thought of talking to Ms. Briggs.  "Yes Ms. Briggs?"

"Swat Kats!  Viper is back for mutagen 41!  He’s over at MegaKat Biochemical Labs!" shouted Callie loud to where Chance could hear from across the hanger. 

"Are you there, Ms. Briggs?" Jake asked, worried about Callie.

"No, I'm at the mayor’s office Jake, oops."  She looked around to find that her blunder had not been heard. "I mean Razor," she corrected herself. 

After Chance heard that comment, he ran away in disgust to his locker to get his flight suit on.

"It's okay, Ms. Briggs.  We're on our way," answered Jake as flipped off the intercom, then ran to catch up with Chance.

The Swat Kats got dressed, leaped into the TurboKat, and flew off to MegaKat City. The entire flight T-bone had trouble concentrating.  The jealously and pain was almost too much for him to bear on his head as he flew. 

Once they arrived, T-bone could see that Viper was making his escape with the drug from the roof on the back of his flying plantamals.  As Viper flew away, T-bone engaged him from behind. 

'I can't do this, I'm a wreck,' he thought to himself. 

But, before Razor could set up to fire, Feral came into the scene with his Enforcer chopper, yelling, "Swat Kats, back off - the Enforcers can handle this," he announced. 

And, as soon as T-bone realized his way out, he broke left and disengaged from Viper's tail. 

Feral was surprised.  'It's about time those Swat Kats listened to me,' he thought as he engaged Viper.

Shocked that his partner was backing out of a fight and shocked even more that he was listening to Feral, Razor called to T-bone. "Hey Buddy, What are you doing?  Viper's the other way."  But, T-bone was already full throttle on his way back to the salvage yard.  Trying once again to reach his buddy, Razor called again, "T-bone, What's wrong? ...T-bone!?!"  Not getting through, he decided to try again, "Chance!  Talk to me!" he pleaded... 

But, there was still no answer as the TurboKat screamed through the sky towards home.  Razor, realizing he was getting nowhere, stopped asking questions and sat back in his seat, quiet for the rest of the ride back. 

When they got back, T-bone jumped out of the cockpit, ripped off his helmet and mask and threw them in his locker.

Razor still unsure what to say, finally called to Chance after he was done changing.  "What happened?"

Chance not even looking back, finally spoke back as he was heading up stairs, "Feral can handle it"... Then, he disappeared up the ladder. 

Razor jumped out of the cockpit, took off his helmet and mask, then ran up after Chance.  When he caught up with him, he confronted him.  "Feral can handle it?!?" he asked in disbelief.  Chance ignored his comment...  Then, Jake exploded with frustration, "Chance, what the hell is going on?!?"  His voice was now getting angry.

"Dammit, Jake!" Chance finally exploded in a voice louder than Jake's. 

Jake now startled, backed up in surprise. 

"I couldn't do it!  I couldn't go up there and battle with evil when I can't even get my mind straight!" he yelled at his friend.  Then, looking at him, he spoke again, "You want to know the truth?  Huh, Jake? You were right!  The truth is when you told me about Callie and you, my heart broke in two.  And, I got so jealous of you two!  It made me sick. But, I couldn't tell you.  You're my best friend, and I couldn't tell you that you hurt me in a, if not the, worst way I have ever been hurt.  But, it's okay - I'm happy for you and Callie.  Truly I am.  You just have to understand that you messed me up pretty good.  And, I don't want you to break up with Callie cause of me.  It's just hard.  A hell of a lot harder than catching Dr. Viper," Chance confessed. Then, he walked up stairs, feeling defeated and emotionally exhausted. 

Jake just stood in his own silent shock still feeling his partner’s words...

            Chapter 6

The day went by.  On the news Jake learned that Viper had gotten away from Feral.  But, even the bad news of Viper’s escape didn't faze Jake from his thoughts of Chance.  What was he supposed to do?  He had found his love, but in the process he had hurt his best friend in the worst way... 

'Oh what am I going to do?' he thought to himself, 'And, what am I going to tell Callie?' 

As if he had asked for it the Deputy Mayor walked in through the office door.

"Jake?" she said to let him know of her presence.  He looked up in surprise to see her staring at him with a confused/concerned look on her face.  "What happened?  What went wrong with Viper?" she asked as she sat down close to him on the couch. 

Jake, unsure what to say, just answered, "Chance isn't feeling too good."

"Oh, what's wrong? Is he sick?" Callie asked, surprised and worried about Chance.

"He just isn't feeling well, and I don't think he wants to talk to anybody right now," Jake answered in a sad tone.

"Jake, what's wrong?" Callie asked concerned, knowing something big was up. She moved even closer to comfort him.

But, Jake just sat there, feeling her body against his, silent and looking at the floor. Should he tell her the truth?  Should he break it off?  He had no idea what to say next, but he thought about what Chance had said to him, even when he was angry. 

'I'm happy for you and Callie, truly I am, and I don't want you two to break up cause of me.’

After he thought about it a bit more, he looked up into Callie's eyes and placed his paw over hers and said, "Callie don't worry about it." He put a smile on his face.  Chance was hurt, but even in his pain he was happy for them, and Jake wasn't going to ruin that. 

"You sure?" asked Callie one last time.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he answered as he put his arm over her. 

After feeling Jake's arm over her, Callie felt better and stopped worrying about Chance.  She sat there with him for a while, but then had to leave to go back to work.  Jake kissed her goodbye, then stayed on the couch for a little bit longer before he got up to finish some work in the garage. 

The day went on and both Chance and Jake isolated themselves from each other, the fear of what might be said next holding them back.  Night seemed to take forever to come, and, when it got late enough, Jake went out to lock the gates.  When he came back inside, he found Chance at the table drinking a glass of milk.  Cautiously, he walked over and sat down across from him at the table. When he sat down their eyes met, both with looks of forgiveness. 

"Buddy I'm ..." Jake started first, but then was interrupted.

"Sorry," Chance said, finishing Jake's statement.  "I'm sorry for me blowing up on you.  I just couldn't handle it, and I'm sorry for running away from Viper," he said, feeling ashamed that he had run away from a fight.

"It's alright, buddy," Jake said, trying to help Chance feel better.  "Feral didn't get him," he added, knowing Chance had to know. 

After hearing that, Chance got up and headed back up stairs. Before he got the stairs he stopped, not turning around, and asked Jake, "You didn't do anything stupid with Callie did you?"

Jake answered steadily, "No."

"Good," he started back up stairs, "Good night," he said as went out of Jake's sight.

"Good night, buddy" Jake called to him, feeling better about his friend.  He knew he had made the right choice with Callie, and he knew his friendship with Chance would get better again.  But, in the back of his mind he was worried if his relationship with T-bone would ever recover...             

            Chapter 7

"Ring! Ring! Ring!" screamed the alarm early in the morning. 

Both Chance and Jake were still asleep when it went off.  The shock of the loud sound tossed both of the Kats out of their beds in shock.

 Jake, looking up to see the red light flashing in his room, stumbled over to answer Callie.  "Yes, Ms. Briggs?!?" he said, trying to sound awake. 

"Oh, Razor, did I wake you up?" asked Callie, worrying about Jake and forgetting about the problem. 

"No," lied Jake. "What's the problem?"

Suddenly remembering she answered, "Dr. Viper is holding City Hall hostage with a horrible monster he's created.  He has the Mayor, and I am.. Ahh!!" she screamed!  And then, the phone went dead. 

"Callie!" yelled Jake, now fully awake. “Callie!!” Then, dropping the phone, he bolted out of his room and headed down to the hanger.

When he got down there, he found Chance getting in his flight suit.  Only thinking about Callie, he completely forgot about his partner's condition. 

Once T-bone and Razor were ready, they jumped into the TurboKat and flew off toward MegaKat City. They arrived to see a giant thornbush monster guarding City Hall.  Inside, they could see Mayor Manx and Ms. Briggs being held hostage by Viper. 

"Back off,Swat Kats!" announced Feral when he saw them arrive., “the Enforcers can handle this."

"Just like you handled it last time?  We're in this situation because you couldn't handle it, Feral!" Razor yelled back, very angry that Callie was in trouble and he couldn't do anything.

"Now, you listen to me!" started Feral after being yelled at by Razor.

"Get off this channel, Feral," called T-bone, defending his partner and turning off the radio. 

Razor  tried everything to take down Viper's Monster.  Slicer missile, Buzzsaw, Matchhead, nothing worked.  Even the Cement Machine Gun had no effect.  Whenever the creature got a limb chopped or burnt off, it would grow back faster and stronger than ever.  And, the cement slugs just flaked off the monster’s rough exterior. 

"It must be that drug that Viper stole," Razor realized.  "I don't have anything that can stop that plant, T-bone," he admitted.

"And, I can't get close enough to land," T-bone replied.

"T-bone," Razor said, realizing a plan, "Fly around the building as fast as you can, then, once you get enough ahead of that creature, drop me off inside the building.  While I go inside and rescue the Mayor and Callie, you’ll have to distract the creature from finding out that Viper is going to be in trouble."

"But, Razor, at that speed, you'll never survive entry into the building," T-bone warned.

"No, if I go full back thrusters, I'm pretty sure I'll survive."

"Pretty sure?!" T-bone replied in shock.  "Razor you'll never make it," he pleaded.

"We don't have a choice, buddy.  The Mayor and Callie need our help."

"What am I supposed to do out here - dance for him?" asked T-bone wildly.

"Just make sure he doesn't turn around and look at Viper. Alright, let's go."

"Razor, be careful," T-bone worried as he started to speed up. 

The monster chased after them around the building.  Eventually, the monster started to drop back.  When it was out of T-bone’s sight, Razor ejected from the TurboKat. 

"Maintain radio contact!" yelled T-bone as he ejected. Then, turning his attention forward again, he came face to face with the monster that had reversed directions to catch them. "Holy Kats!" yelled T-bone as he dove down under the monster’s legs, avoiding a collision.  As he climbed back up after running under the monster, he noticed something as he looked back.  There was a bright yellow spot on the monster’s lower back.  It stuck out like a sore thumb all over the monster’s dark green/brown body.  "What is that?" he asked himself as he flew away. Then, suddenly he remembered Razor and called to him over the radio, "Razor, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay, buddy - my seat is totaled though," Razor answered.  "I'm on my way upstairs to the mayor's office."

"Alright, give me a call if you need anything."  

"No problem - over and out" answered Razor. But, right after Razor had stopped talking, the monster got a shot at the TurboKat, disabling the radio.

"Razor!" T-bone called after regaining control of the TurboKat.  But, no one answered, "Oh no!" he said to himself, realizing that he was all alone...

Meanwhile, Razor was making his way up the stairs. 

'Yeah, no problem.  Soon we'll have Viper behind bars, and Callie‘ll be back in my arms,' he thought to himself.  Then, he stopped suddenly, remembering for the first time that Chance was up in the TurboKat.  Actually up there, and he was all alone too... 

'I can't believe I forgot!', he thought to himself.  "Hey Buddy, how you doing up there?" he called over the radio to find out if T-bone was okay.  When he got no answer, he tried again. "Buddy?" 

When he realized that the radio was down, he got scared.  'Aw crud, he's up there alone and probably in no condition to fight,' he thought.  'But, what can I do?  I have to save Callie and the Mayor...'  So, he kept going, all the while thinking, 'What if T-bone went back to the yard?  What if I'm the one alone now?' .......

Outside the building, T-bone was hovering back, watching the Enforcers get smashed by Viper’s creation. 

'I can't do this,' he thought to himself.  “I can’t fight… but that's Jake down there!" he said to himself, "I can't just leave him."  Then, he noticed two Enforcer choppers move in behind and fire at the creature’s back, right at the spot he had noticed earlier.  The creature gave out a cry of pain, then turned around and smashed both choppers into each other.  "That's its weak spot," T-bone realized.  'But, what am I going to do?' he thought to himself. 'I couldn't hit it even if I tried - Razor's the sure shot, not me.’ 

Just as he thought that, he spotted Razor in the window behind Viper, Manx and Callie.  Razor leaped and got the jump on Viper, but Viper yelled out just enough to get his monster’s attention. 

'Oh NO!' thought T-bone.  When the monster turned back and noticed Razor, it pulled back its fist to crush him through the window. “Razor!” T-bone yelled as he immediately pushed full throttle toward the beast.  Engaging the auxiliary weapons panel, he positioned himself right behind the monster.  Sweat running down his face he targeted the bright yellow spot and yelled, “Get away from my best friend, you son of a bitch!”  Then, he fired a Matchhead missile right at the spot. ‘Please hit - just one miracle is all I need,’ he thought to himself. 

The monster’s hand started towards Razor when the missile hit dead on. 

“Alright!” T-bone yelled in great satisfaction. 

The monster stopped and gave out a huge cry as the fire spread to its insides.  The fire moved so quickly that soon the creature fell to the ground, a huge ball of smoke and ash.

“Blast you, Swat Katssss!” Viper hissed.  Then, he ran to the window to be picked up by one of his flying plantamals.  When “BAM!”   He was thrown back against the wall with cement all over him.  T-bone shot him down before he could get away. 

Razor, smiling at Viper on the floor unable to move, looked out to find the TurboKat hovering in front of the window and T-bone smiling back with his thumb up.  Razor put his thumb up to T-bone and laughed.  He was overjoyed to see that his buddy was back.   Then, he turned back to check on the Mayor and Callie.  After seeing to them, he ran over to the open window and jumped onto the wing of the TurboKat.  The canopy opened, and he jumped into his spot. 

Callie walked over to the window.

“Thank you, Swat Kats, and I’m glad you’re feeling better, T-bone,” she yelled over the engines.

”You’re welcome, and thank you, Ms. Briggs.” T-bone answered. 

Then, the canopy closed, and Jake and Callie exchanged waves before the Swat Kats headed home. 

            Chapter 8

The next day, things were back to normal in the salvage yard.  When Jake woke up, he could hear Chance downstairs laughing at what must have been Scardy Kat.  After his shower, he came downstairs to see that it was indeed Scardy Kat.

“Hey buddy, I wondered when you were going to wake up,” Chance said, noticing Jake. 

“Morning, buddy,” Jake replied as he headed to the fridge for breakfast.

“What do you have planned today?” Chance asked.

“Well, I have a date with Callie later,” Jake answered.

Chance turned his head away from the TV to look at Jake. With one eyebrow up he asked, “Where you taking her?” 

Jake looked at Chance after the question and laughed at his friend’s curious expression. 

Chance, trying not to laugh himself, started again, “Don’t laugh - where you taking her?”

“I don’t know - I was thinking someplace nice,” Jake finally answered.

“Well of course,” Chance said sarcastically.  “I figured as much, but where you going to eat?”

“I don’t know - what’s good? I don’t eat out much,” Jake admitted.

“Well, I’ve heard that Italian is that best food choice for the first date.”

“What? Where did you hear that from?” Jake laughed.

Then, all of a sudden, a horn went off from outside the garage.  The two looked toward the window, then to each other.

“Callie?” Chance asked.

“If it is, she’s five hours early,” Jake replied, then moved closer to see that it was the beautiful She-Kat he had helped a couple of days ago.  “Ah man, she’s back.  That means something went wrong.   Kat’s alive - it’ll take me all day to fix that thing she’s got.”

“Who is it?” Chance asked.

“Oh, just that She-Kat who came in a couple of days ago, with that faulty exhaust pipe. You know?”

“The pretty one?”

“Yeah,” Jake said, depressed. “I don’t think I’ll have time to be with Callie today cause I’ll be stuck here fixing that.” By the time he had finished talking, Chance had already jumped out of his seat and gone over to take a look.

“Hey, buddy. I’ve got a great idea. How about you let me take care of it?” Chance asked with a romantic tone in his voice.  “That way you can get to take Callie out,” he added, trying to convince Jake.

“Really, you would?” Jake asked as he turned to Chance, seeing him eye the beautiful She-Kat. “You’d do that for…” Then, he realized.  “Wait a minute…  I think I know what you’re after.”

Chance looked at Jake with a grin on his face.  “Can you blame me?” he asked.

Jake laughed and walked over to him.  “She’s all yours, buddy,” he said as he walked past him and went upstairs to get everything ready for his date with Callie. 

The End.