Vacation Blues Part 1 Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs was on her way to the metal salvage yard. Her car had been making funny noises all day and she needed to know if something was wrong. She figured that Chance or Jake would be able to fix it in a jiffy. She was hoping that she would be able to catch Mayor Manx before he went to the new MegaKat golf course that just opened. She had not gotten the chance to discuss her vacation time with him. She wanted to take next week off. She figured that it would be the best time since Manx was not going to be appearing in public for a couple of weeks. She had left a note for him weeks ago but they had never sat down to discuss it. She turned down Scrap Avenue. Only a few more miles till she got there. Suddenly she saw a young tomkat waving at her and motioning for her to slow down. Callie slowed down and stopped next to the tomkat. "Excuse me." he said. "Are you on your way to the.. Uhhh... metal salvage yard? My car broke down and I am trying to get to Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop." Upon saying this he motioned to the car that was parked a small ways up the road. Callie checked him out. He obiviously was not a Mega Kat citizen. He did not even reconize her. He looked to be in about his early twenties. He had light gray fur and wore the typical jeans and t-shirt. He was wearing a red hat with something written on it in black. She read the hat. It said "Swat Kats". "Yes I am." she said. "You need a lift?" "Um... yes I guess." He fumbled for the words. He got in the passenger seat and they drove down the road. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey Watch it!" Jake shouted at Chance. Chance had started up the engine before Jake could pull out his head. The car's engine made a loud bang sound and then quieted down to nothing. "Aw Crud!" Chance said getting out of the driver's seat and looking at Jake. "What happened this time?" "I don't know." Jake responded. "Let's have another look." They began to look at the engine. All of a sudden a clanking sound could be heard in the distance. Chance walked over to the entrance to check it out. "It's Callie!" He called back to Jake. Jake looked up from the engine and banged his head on the hood. He pulled away from the car rubbing the bump on his head. "Again?" he asked. This was definitely not the first time she had been to the shop. She was one of their most frequent customers. He slammed the hood of the car down and walked into the lobby area. Chance on the other hand was excited that Callie was coming. It seemed like the only time he ever got to see her was when she was in danger and he never got the chance to talk to her. He always enjoyed the times she would need her car fixed. Most of those times were cut short to. He thought of the last time when Mayor Manx sent a limo to pick her up. He smiled when he did not see any other cars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Callie had learned a little about the strange tom kat. She was right about him not being a Mega Kat citizen. In fact she had shocked him when she told him who she was. She was also right about his age. He was twenty-two. He had told her that he came from a small town out in nowhere's ville and that he was on his way to MegaKat city to start a new life. He knew some of the layout of the city from maps he had bought at a gas station. His car was having trouble and he thought that the best place to go would be some where near Mega Kat city. He was on his way to the scrap yard when his car died and that was only a few minutes before she had picked him up. "So.." she said "You told me all this stuff about you but I don't even know your name." The comment had hit him like a brick. That should have been the first thing he should have told her. "I'm Trevor Furson." he said. He had found Callie to be the first real nice kat he had met in a long time. The car pulled into the salvage yard and up to the garage. A big yellow burley kat motioned for Callie to pull inside along side the other car. They got out of the car. "Chance this thing has been making that sound for some time now. Can you fix it?" she asked. "My pleasure." he said. Just then Jake came out of the lobby. He walked over to Callie and asked her what was wrong with her car. She explained again and Jake started towards the car. Chance looked up from the engine. "This was the problem." he said. He held up a mangled part. "We'll just have to replace this." Chance handed the piece to Jake and Jake walked over to pile of parts to look for the new part. While this was going on Trevor just stood there and watched. He was not about to interupt what was going on. "So who is this?" Chance asked pointing at Trevor. "A boyfriend?"Chance gritted his teeth. "Very funny Chance." Callie said. "He is Trevor Furson and his car broke down only a few miles from here. Can you pick his car up and fix it for him?" "Well..." Chance rubbed his chin. "Jake can do it. Do you need a lift home, Miss Briggs?" "No." she said. "I was hoping that you guys would fix my car so I could drive myself." "I found it!" Jake called triumphantly. "All we need to do is install it." But before Jake could get to the car Chance took the part away. "Can you go do a pick up without me?" He winked as he said this. Jake understood. He went over to Trevor and asked him where the car was. "Only a few miles down the road." he said. "I will go with you." Jake grabbed the keys. The two of them got in the tow truck and started down the road. "I'm done!" Chance said only a minute later. Callie got into her car and started the engine. Sure enough the clanking was gone. "Thanks Chance." she said. "How much do I owe you?" Chance had thought about asking her out to dinner as payment but instead he said. "It's on the house." Callie could not believe that. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Positive!" he replied. "I'll be seeing you." she said. "I have to go. Tell Jake I said bye." With that she began to pull out of the garage. Chance could only return a smile and a wave as she left. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jake pulled the tow truck up past the garage entrance and manuevered it so that the rear of Trevor's car was in front of the garage. Trevor and Jake jumped out of the truck. Chance walked out and helped Jake with Trevor's car. Chance told Trevor to go in to the lobby and wait for them to check his car. Trevor walked inside and sat in the lobby area. He looked around. The lobby was more like a living room and it probably was. He figured that the two mechanics must live at the garage considering some of the things he saw. A half eaten sandwich, some personnel letters, and some other stuff were on the table near him. He sat on the coach and picked up a nearby magazine and began to read it. Meanwhile Jack and Chance had pushed Trevor's car into the garage. Jake was under the car checking things out and Chance was looking at the engine. "Well everything looks okay here." Jake said as he rolled out from under the car. "He needs to have his battery recharged and his radiator is busted." Chance said. "This may take a day or two." Trevor looked up as the two mechanics walked into the lobby. "Mr. Furson..." Chance began. Trevor winced when he said that. "Your battery needs recharged and your radiator is busted. It is going to take us at least a day to fix it. We need your address and phone number so we can call you when it is ready." "Call me Trevor." Trevor said. "I don't have an address or phone number so I will call you okay?" "Fine." said Chance. He and Jake turned around and went back to work on the car. Trevor got up and walked outside and pulled his backpack out of the car. He started to walk away when Jake shouted at him. "Hey! Need to call a cab!" he shouted. "No. I 'll walk." Trevor shouted back. Jake just shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trevor had been walking for an hour when he heard a car pull up behind him and stop. An elderly woman struggled to get out of her car. "Hold it!" she shouted. "Just where do you think you are going?" Trevor stared at her in disbelief. "I'm headed into MeagaKat city." he replied. She laughed. "You're not from around here are ya?." she asked in a scratchy voice. Trevor shook his head. She laughed again. "Why don't you come with me and help me. In return you can stay the night." Trevor thought about it. What harm could it do to help her with some house work? "Alright. It's a deal!" he said. He got into her car and they drove off. As they drove he listened to her complain about everything in her life and then some. Finally they got to the house and Trevor jumped out of the car. She told him to put his bag in the house and told him to get to work on the lawn. Evening came and Trevor could not believe an elderly lady like this one had so much work to do. He could not even think of all the tasks she had set for him to do. He was very tired and very sore. She had made a terrible tasting stew that Trevor ate only because he was famished. The bed that he was lying on was as hard as a rock. "No wonder she is so cranky." he thought to himself. Then he drifted off to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Callie looked at the clock. She sighed. It was elven-thirty. She took off her glasses and pushed back her hair. She had barely reached Manx before he had left. He okayed her vacation and then left her to do the rest of the paper work. She put her glasses back on and reached over to the file cabinet and pulled open a drawer. She put the last file in and shut the drawer. "There!" she said. "Now to go home and start my vacation." She always had Saturdays and Sundays off so her vaction basically started tomorrow. She walked over to the door and pulled it open. She gasped. Someone was standing there! "Working late Deputy Mayor?" the sinister voice of Hardrive snickered. Callie tried to slam the door shut but Hardrive stopped her and grabbed her by the wrist. She tried to break free. "I wouldn't try to break free if I were you." he said. "You might be shocked at what might happen if you do." He laughed at his own bad pun. Callie stopped resisting. Hardrive picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. All of a sudden Callie found herself traveling through a light socket. She blacked out. When she came to she was tied up and sitting on a chair in an abandoned building. She looked around for her purse and saw it on the nearby table. Hardrive was no where in sight. "If I could just get to my purse." She muttered. She began to squirm in her chair. It took awhile but she finally worked her way to the table. She didn't know what to do then. She noticed that her purse was open. Suddenly she got an idea. She picked up the bottom of the purse with her teeth and turned it upside down. Her communicator fell out onto the table along with an assortment of other things. She dropped her purse and pushed the button to her communicator with her chin. "I have a surprise for you, Miss Briggs!" Hardrive shouted from another room. "And I have one for you!" She muttered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had not taken them long to fix Trevor's radiator. In fact Jake had surprised himself with how fast the repairs had gone. Now all they had to do was wait for the battery to charge. Chance had dozed off on the coach and Jake was busy fixing the other car when the Swat Kat alarm began to buzz. Jake ran through the living room, and into the back of the garage. He slammed his fist on the button to make the alarm stop. "Yes Miss Briggs?" he asked. "Swat Kats!" She sounded surprised. "I'm in big trouble. Hardrive katnapped me and has taken me.... somewhere!" "Keep your comm on Callie." Jake said. "We can trace your signal to where ever Hardrive has taken you. We'll be there as soon as we can!" He ran out to the living room. "Hey Chance! Let's go! Callie's in trouble!" Chance woke up slowly. He looked at Jake for a second and then it hit him. Callie was in trouble and she needed their help. He snapped to and scrambled to the hanger. They quickly changed into their flight suits and jumped into the TurboKat. Razor turned on his insturments while T-Bone fired up the engine. He picked up Callie's signal. "I've got her!" he shouted. "She is in the old MegaKat Fish Hatchery. "Roger that." T-Bone replied. "Let's go!" The TurboKat tore down the run way. The overhead hatch at the end of the run way opened and the TurboKat flew into the sky. T-Bone turned the TurboKat towards the Hatchery and gunned the engines. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Do you like it?" Hardrive said. He had pulled in a large device with a sheet on it. Callie wasn't sure what to think considering the object was still veiled. Suddenly he threw the sheet away and Callie gasped at what she saw. It was another Hardrive! "How did you do this?" She cried. One Hardrive was bad enough but two! Hardrive laughed. "The enforcers didn't know that I had taken this from them." he said. "The plans to make a duplicate robot of any kat you want!" He laughed sinisterly with the next thought. "And now Miss Briggs you are going to be part of my first test for it!" "What!" she screamed in disbielf. "Just what are you trying to say?" "It's simple." he began. "Since the Swat Kats always seem to show up when you are in trouble I am going to leave my robot here to guard you. Then I will be able to get the drop on them when they are not looking! Then I'll get rid of them and Megakat city will be at my mercy!" "You're mad Hardrive!" she yelled. Just then a jet roared past. Hardrive grabbed a hankerchief from his pocket and gaged Callie with it. "Just in case you get any ideas!" he said. He turned the robot on and he jumped behind some boxes. He would be able to see them but they would not be able to see him. Callie struggled to break free but she couldn't. She had to warn them! Just then she thought she saw the door begin to open. T-Bone was all for just busting in but Razor wanted a small peek first. He saw Hardrive and Callie. Callie was tied to a chair and gaged and Hardrive was just standing there doing nothing. "Well?" T-Bone asked with a little hint of irratation. "Something is not right." Razor said. "Hardrive isn't doing anything. It's like he is expecting us. We need a plan." Razor thought for a moment. He could not think of anything. "Come on! Let's go! Callie is in danger!" With that said T-Bone burst through the door glovatrix at the ready. He did not hesitate and fired a mini slicer missle at Harddrive. The missle hit with a loud clang. T-Bone was shocked. The missile didn't do anything. Just then the real Hardrive jumped from behind the boxes. He filled his surge suit with electricity and punched T-Bone right in the face. T-Bone fell backwards. Meanwhile Hardrive had forgotten about Razor. Razor had sneaked in and was about to reach Callie when the robot followed it's creator's lead and attacked Razor. The punch connected and Razor also fell backwards. He regained his senses enough to dodge the next blow. He performed a footsweep that sent the robot falling backwards. He jumped to his feet and surveyed the situation. There were two Hardrives! One must be a fake! He thought. Now he knew why T-Bone's slicer missle failed. Just then he felt a surge of electricity fill his body. He stumbled backwards losing consciousness. T-Bone stopped the next punch with his hand. He hit Hardrive hard right in the face. This time it was Hardrive who was surprised. He had not counted on T-Bone's glovatrix to be insulated. He fell backwards. T-Bone wasn't finished. He pounced on Hardrive and recieved the shock of his life. The other Hardrive had come to it's creator's rescue and had shocked T-Bone from behind. T-Bone began to black out. "Nighty-night Swat Kat!" was the last thing T-Bone heard before a fist connected with his face. A little while later T-Bone came to. He was tied up and sitting near Callie. She did not have the hankerchief in her mouth anymore. "T-Bone!" she said. "Are you alright?" It took T-Bone a little time to focus on what was going on. "Yes.." he said "What hit me?" He then noticed that Razor was also tied up behind him. He was still out cold. "Razor!" he shouted. "Come on buddy wake up!" Razor still didn't move. "When I get my claws on Hardrive....." he was cut off by a figure moving towards him from out of the shadows. It was Hardrive or what appearred to be Hardrive. The robot walked up to T-Bone. Hardrive walked in from the other room. "I suppose I could wait till your partner wakes up but I won't." he said. "Robot! Destroy the Swat Kats!" T-Bone clinched his teeth ready for the shock of his life. "Wait!" cried Callie. The robot stopped to look at her. It began to build up electricity in it's surge suit. Callie closed her eyes and waited for the end. T-Bone knew he had to do something. He was just about to throw himself at the robot when his ropes broke. "Huh?!" he muttered. Razor had not been knocked out entirely. The whole time he been cutting T-Bone's ropes with his claws. T-Bone jumped up and tackled the robot. The robot became unbalanced and stopped charging it's suit. "No!" shouted Hardrive. "You will not get away!" He began to charge his own suit and was going to punch T-Bone from behind when a rope wrapped around him. With T-Bone free Razor had managed to losen his own bonds enough to escape. Razor tugged hard forcing Hardrive to fall backwards. Hardrive turned into a surge of electricity and jumped into a socket. Razor knew there wasn't a moment to lose. He grabbed both glovatrix's from the table and ran over to Callie. Meanwhile T-Bone was doing his best to keep from getting punched by the robot. He ducked another swing and he jumped behind a crate. He noticed that there was a big stack of them beside the one he jumped behind. He began to push the bottom one and the crates toppled over onto the robot. It would not hold it for long but it maybe just long enough T-Bone thought as he ran to where Callie and Razor were. "Got any plans sure-shot?" he asked as Razor threw him his glovatrix. "You bet!" he said. The robot broke free and began to advance towards them. Callie was stationed by the emergency water hose. At Razor's signal she sprayed the robot with water. The robot still kept moving towards them. "Razor!" shouted T-Bone. "It's not working!" Razor ignored him.When it reached the table Razor fired a mini buzzsaw missile at the table. The missile cut through the it creating a large amount of saw dust. The saw dust covered the robot. The robot began to make funny noises. "Take cover!" Razor shouted. They all jumped behind some crates in time to avoid the explosion. When everything was clear they walked out from behind the ceates. "How did you know to do that Razor?" T-Bone asked. "I remembered the time I hit Mak Metallikat with an ash tray." he said. "I figured that I could do the same to this thing." He pointed at the heap of scrap metal. "We're not finished yet." T-Bone said clamping one fist in the palm of his paw. "Where's Hardrive himself?" They ran into the next room. He wasn't there. "Aw Crud!" T- Bone shouted slamming his fist on a crate. "He got away." Just then a surge of electricity blasted Razor knocking him against the wall. "You fools!" Hardrive shouted as he materialized. "That robot took months to create!" He filled his surge suit with electricity and ran towards T-Bone. T-Bone had to come up with a plan. Suddenly he got one. He fired to mini matchhead misiles at Hardrive. They both missed but had come close enough to set Hardrive's surge suit on fire. "No!" Hardrive cried running into the next room. He turned on the fire hose and put out the fire on his suit. He turned around only to find T-Bone's fist flying at him. As he began to pass out he heard T-Bone say "Lights out Hardrive!" A few minites later the Enforcers surrounded the building. Callie had called them while T-Bone and Razor were tieing up Hardrive for pick up. Feral and Felina were the first two Enforcers in the building. "Are you all right, Miss Briggs?" Commander Feral asked. "Yes." she said. "Thanks to the Swat Kats!" "The Swat Kats!" Feral shouted. "Where are they?" "Right in here uncle!" Felina shouted from another room. Feral ran to the other room. To his surprise not much had been destroyed and his niece had Hardrive. T-Bone and Razor were about ready to leave when Feral stopped them. "I'll let you go this time." he said. "But one of these days I'm going to bring you two to justice!" T-Bone and Razor just walked past him and over to Callie. "Need a lift?" T-Bone asked. "Yes." Callie said. They all got into the TurboKat and took off for Callie's apartment. After dropping her off she went into her apartment. Callie got ready for bed. "What a great way to start my vacation." she muttered to herself and then she fell into a deep sleep.