Going Batty By Kari Gilmore Chapter 1: "What about this one?" "Too plain." "This one?" "Too white." "*This* one?" "Too beady." "Tigera! Your wedding is in three weeks! You can't get married in jeans!" "What's wrong with jeans, Kat?" "Nothing if you're eloping." Tigera picked up the magazine with the wedding dresses and tossed it over her shoulder into a trash can. "Then, maybe we should elope and get this whole damn thing over with," she said. "Oh, no. I'm not going to let my brother and future sister-in-law elope without family and friends there. I'd rather beat you up," Katney said. "How would it look like if my side of the family was there? You know how rotten they are." "No need asking whom she's referring to," Jake said as he, Chance, Buster and Ann came in. "Having trouble finding the perfect dress, Tiger?" Chance asked, rubbing her shoulders. Tigera purred softly and replied, "You might say that." Ann had a sick expression on her face then ran off. "Didn't think she'd get sick watching Chance rub Tigera's shoulders," Jake said. "I've seen that kind of sick before. Buster...?" Kat said, turning to Buster. "What?! Maybe it's the Pokémon food she ate in the last story! What are you blaming me for if she ate too much?!" Buster asked, with a shocked look on his face. "That reminds me, I've never seen Ann eat that much before. Even Brock said Vulpix don't eat that much," Tigera said. "Yeah, explain that, Whitetail. Even the Pokémon food we ate didn't come back up," Chance said. "Why am I the one who's always blamed for these things?!" Buster asked, pointing his thumb at himself. Ann came back in and stood next to Buster. "You're looking a little green, Ann. Literally," Jake said. Kat circled around Ann, a bit curious. "Katney, you're asking for bruising if you don't stop doing that. You're making me dizzy and it's making me nauseous," Ann said, looking a little annoyed. Kat walked over to the others and looked at her. "It's not *me* who's making you nauseous, Annie. It's your *kitten,*" she said. "Her what?!" everyone asked. "Thank you, everybody. You just made me deaf," Kat said, rubbing her ears. "Who said I was pregnant?" Ann asked. "Like I said, I've seen this kind of sick before. It's the kind I've faced three times. Not that I was proud of Vitalini, but... Chance, Jacob, I thought you talked to Buster about this." "We did," both Jake and Chance said. "Well, Ann and I were meaning to tell you guys something..." Buster said, putting his paw behind his head. "We sorta eloped a couple of weeks ago," Ann said. "Christ! If you weren't pregnant, I'd hurt you. I hate people who elope," Kat said. Buster and Ann shrugged. "Well, what are we gonna do now?" Jake asked. "One thing's for sure: Ann's gonna be out of the team for a while," Chance said. "What? Why?" Ann asked. "Cause if you want this kitten, you have to take it easy. One kick in the stomach and it's dead. Trust me, it's better if you take a break from the Swat Kats for awhile." Ann groaned. Kat sat down in a chair and turned on the TV. "I'm thinking we're going to have another sequel story, gang," she said. "What makes you say that, Katney?" Buster asked. "Check it out," Kat said, turning the volume up. They all gathered around the TV to see what Kat was referring to. "... A portal is opening up and we suspect it to be the Pastmaster," the reporter said. "Just cause it's a portal doesn't mean it's the Pastmaster," Buster said. Then, out of the portal on TV came four turbojets flying out. "Whoa! Would ya look at those jets?!" Chance asked. "Never seen anything like 'em!" Jake said. "Similar to the TurboKats if you asked me," Tigera said. "Thus, the reason I believe it to be a sequel," Kat said. "It appears to be the Swat Kats' jets, yet they're not. Looks like Commander Feral isn't going to ask any questions either," the reporter said. "Think we should check it out?" Ann asked. "Not you, Ann. You're staying put. Sorry. Let's go, Kats!" Chance said, heading for the hanger. "Kat, Tigera, talk to him?" Ann asked. "Sorry, Ann. I have to agree with him. You don't wanna have a miscarriage, do you?" Kat asked as she followed Chance and the others. "No. Guess not. Doesn't sound like much fun." Meanwhile, the new jets were out-flying the Enforcer choppers. "What kind of world is this anyway?" someone in one of the jets asked. "A primitive one if you asked me," another one said. "Bring those jets down, men!" Commander Feral said. "Never gonna happen, Old Timer," another one said, firing lasers. The lasers broke off the propellers of the choppers, causing them to crash into the street. "This is Feral. Bring me chopper back-up." "They asked for it," a female in one of the jets said. "Hey, I'm getting more jets on radar," a male said. TurboKats I and II were flying into view. "No way! The old-fashioned TurboKats!" "Whoever you guys are, land on that building now!" T-Bone said on the radio. "Hmph! No one demands that request anymore. We're definitely in the past," one of them said. "SHUT UP AND LAND NOW BEFORE I RIP OUT YOUR SPINES AND USE THEM AS HOCKEY STICKS AND YOUR HEADS AS PUCKS!!" Quiver shouted. One of them gulped. "She's got a way with words. Landing!" he said. T-Bone looked back at Quiver and grinned. "You go, little sister." They landed as soon as the other jets did. The Swat Kats jumped out and walked over to the other jets. "Me-yow! I've never seen jets so advanced!" Quiver said. "I gotta get the name of these guys' mechanics," T-Bone said. The canopy opened for one of the jets. Three masked kats jumped out and looked at them. "Nice costumes, but ain't it a bit early for Halloween, kitts?" Venus asked. "We should be asking you the same question," one of the kats said. "Hotshot, Thunderclap, Coldfire, we don't need to start anything. You can trust these guys," a voice said. "Huh?" Boulder asked, looking to the right. Jumping out of the other jets were more Swat Kats. "Huh? Crud, I need eye visors or something! I'm seeing double!" Thunderclap said. "No, you're just seeing two sets of Swat Kats. Don't you get it, Thunderclap? We traveled back in time to the first Swat Kats in history!" Coldfire said. "Here's where the sequel part comes in. Course, only Kari knew about that story," Quiver said. "Yeah. So, you must be the future Swat Kats that we know so little about," T-Bone said. "Actually, the younger ones are. We're you 10 years in the future," the older Razor said. "Which then became over 900 years in the future," the older Venus said. "Yet, we haven't aged a bit and I'm still pretty," Quiver said, grinning. The other younger Swat Kats jumped out of the jets and walked over to them. "Where are we anyway?" one of them asked. Venus turned her head and saw several enforcer choppers in the distance. "There's Feral's chopper backup, guys," she said. "You'll be safer in our hangar. Come on!" They all got back inside their jets and were out of sight by the time Feral reached the building they were on. "No sign of them, Commander," the pilot of one of the choppers said. "Damn! They're just as troublesome as the Swat Kats!" Feral growled. "One of the pilots actually caught a look of some of the kats inside one of the jets. They looked a bit like the Swat Kats, but they also looked like teenagers." "Hmm. Could it be possible that there will be Swat Kats in the future? I'll never sleep easy again." Chapter 2: The younger Swat Kats were wondering around the hangar while the present ones were changing back into their normal clothes. "This is so weird. Seeing our future descendants really makes you think, doesn't it?" Tigera asked. "Yeah, it does," Chance said. "To tell you the truth, in the future you guys are legends," Coldfire said. "Yeah, and old Thunderclap here didn't believe 'em until we happened to find you guys in some ice chambers," one of the female future Swat Kats said. "Oh, shut up, Firestar," Thunderclap growled. "I'm curious. How does the legend of the Swat Kats go?" Kat asked as she and the others sat down. "Well, for several hundred years, the Swat Kats have been fighting, every time there was 6 to a team. About 400 years later, the Swat Kats were said to be destroyed and were said to have no children. 500 hundred years pasted and more was added to the legend about the last Swat Kats having children and the descendants themselves didn't know it themselves," Rumble said. "Yeah. Old Thunderclap didn't believe the legend until we unthawed you and you turned into the Swat Kats," Cyclone said. "OK, so I wasn't into legends then! Lay off!" "I'd say he had to get into the legends because they were part of our finals, but that would be laying it on more, wouldn't it?" a male Swat Kat said. The older Swat Kats chuckled. "I believe introductions are in order, kittens," Kat said, grinning somewhat. "Oh, right! We haven't been properly introduced. Name's Hotshot, by name and personality," the biggest of the young Swat Kats said. "They call me Thunderclap because of my shocking personality," Thunder said, holding his paw up and sparks flying. "Coldfire. My power is as cold as a fire is hot," a female Swat Kat said, giving a small bow. "Rumble's the name and game. You wouldn't believe the catch phrases you can get out of a name like mine," one of the male Swat Kats said, bowing slightly. "Let me count the ways later. I'm Cyclone," another female Swat Kat said. "And last, but better not be least, is Firestar. Unlike the rest of the group, I'm the resident demigoddess of the group," the last female Swat Kats said. The Swat Kats nodded to the young group. Ann climbed down the ladder of the hangar and looked at the group. "You didn't tell me you were bringing back company, guys," she said. "Whoa, Annie. You look paler than you did earlier. You've been eating?" Buster asked. "And tossing it up back. I can't keep anything down," Ann groaned. "Don't tell me we're around *that* time," Shera said. "Afraid so," Razor said. "Perfect." "Also around the time we get married," T-Bone said, referring to himself and Venus. Venus' eyes widened slightly. "What time? You mean this around the time where--?" Boulder began, but Shera put her paw over his mouth to stop him. "Shut up, Boulder. They don't need to worry about that," Shera said through clenched teeth. "Sorry." "Well, it might be safer if you guys stay down here. Yell if you need something," Chance said as he and the others climbed up the ladder. "Sure." When the hangar latch closed, Coldfire had taken off her uniform and tossed it into an empty locker. She snapped her fingers and got into a modern day dress. She looked down at the dress and cringed her face. "Yuck. This is so old. People actually wore these back then?" she asked. "As shocking as it may seem, Quiver, yes," Venus said, taking her mask off. "Look, guys, we may be here for a while so we're gonna have to blend in with our new surroundings and try to cope best we can," HotShot said as he took off his mask. "Good plan, HotShot. By the way, what is it that you didn't want them to know about?" Rumble asked. "Nothing that concerns you, Rumble. I'm worried about it'll concern the younger Venus," Venus said, tossing her uniform into an empty locker and getting into a dress. "We'll find out somehow, Tigera. Mark my words." "Hmph. Not from us," Katarina said as she walked out of the room. Upstairs, the younger kats were watching TV. "Was that really worth it? All we did was bring our future selves and descendants into the hangar," Jake said, leaning back against the couch. "We didn't want them to destroy anything, did we? We still have a lot of bills to pay from past events from Feral, you know," Kat said, filing her nails. "Don't we know it? But there's something they don't wanna tell us. Any ideas how we can get it out of them?" Chance asked. "We could annoy them until they tell us," Buster said. "We could resort to begging and whining," Ann said. "Nah, that goes against my principles. I'd like to live my life and be surprised," Tigera said, fiddling with her heart-shaped locket. "Then what do you suggest, Tiger?" Chance asked. "Simple: Let them be." "Aye, but where's the fun in that?" Kat asked. "Speaking of fun, what do pregnant kats do for fun?" Ann asked, stretching. "Wouldn't know. I've only been pregnant for 9 hours. Anyway, I'm sure if it's for sure, Annie. I'd go to the doc's if I was you." "If you are pregnant, if it'll make you feel better, I'll stop being a Swat Kat till you return to action," Buster said, wrapping his arm around Ann's shoulder. "I appreciate that, Bust," Ann said. Then Buster looked at his watch. "Crud! Sorry, guys, but Ann and I gotta get to work." "Yeah. The news of the world is calling us." They both got up and left the room. "Well, screw TV for a couple of hours. What should we do?" Chance asked, tossing the remote aside. "Well, we could talk to our future selves and see if they'll tell us that secret," Kat said. "And if that don't work, we resort to begging and whining," Jake said, jokingly. Kat got up, bipped him softly, then headed down the hangar. A few hours later, everyone was upstairs and watching the news with Ann in front of the camera with her fellow anchorkats. "Off-topic, Ann, I believe you told us you have a surprise for us," one of the anchorkats said. "I do, Tom. For the past couple of days, I've been feeling under the weather so I went to the doctor's. And I got quite a shock out of it. Guys... I'm expecting," Ann said. The other anchorkats smiled and high foured her. "Congratulations, Annie. Who's the father?" "My camerakat Buster." The anchorkats look at Buster, who waved at them. "You tom, you, Whitetail," one of them said. "Guilty," Buster said. "Well, congrats to you both, Annie." "Thanks, Tom. Now back to the news." "Right. A mysterious bat wave has been sweeping the city for the past few weeks. Tonight at the MegaKat Zoo the rest of the bats have been stolen. Zookeepers are baffled." On the screen came on a zookeeper with a microphone in front of his face. "I can't really tell you why anyone would want our bats for normal reasons. All I can think of maybe one of our resident madkats like Dr. Viper or Dark Kat are planning to do some DNA scrambling to anyone who gets in their way," the zookeeper said. "Now, which nutcase do you think it is this time?" Tigera asked. "Viper and Dark Crap fit the bill pretty well," Chance said. "What species of bat was most stolen, sir?" Ann asked. "Mostly vampire bats. Most of our bats were made up of vampires," the zookeeper replied. As the kat on the screen disappeared, Tom said to the audience, "We'll keep you updated as more develops." "This situation is pretty batty, ain't it?" Chance asked. The future Tigera sweated slightly. She nervously chuckled, "Y-Yeah, batty." "You're a little jumpy, Tigera. Something you wanna tell us?" Kat asked. "Huh? Oh, no! Nothing to worry about. Just that bats get me a little batty is all." "Don't see why. I'm not batty when it comes to bats," the younger Tigera said. "Oh, don't worry about her. She told us that--" Quiver began, only to have T-Bone and Razor cover her mouth. "Don't listen to her. Time traveling always confuses her," T-Bone said. "Hmm. They're hiding something," Tigera whispered to Chance. "No, you think?" Chance replied. The alarm went off in the hangar just as Kat was about to open her mouth. "We'll talk later. Come on, gang!" Chance said as he, Jake, Kat, and Tigera headed towards the hangar. The older Tigera sighed in relief. "Nothing to be relieved about, Tiger. It was this day exactly when that report came on. If it happened to us, it'll happen to them. They'll want answers," the older Ann said. "And when they come back, expect to see only three," the older Buster said. "Oh, crap." Chapter 3: "Personally, I don't know what the future Tigera was worried about," T-Bone said as he flew the TurboKat II and looked back at the others. "They know something we don't," Quiver said. "No kidding, Quiv. From the way she was acting, something might happen to Venus," Razor said. A small jet flew up next to the TurboKat II, which the canopy revealed to be Venus. She looked over at them and said, "Then I'll be counting on some back-up, gang. Do you copy?" "Hey, if I let something happen to you, who would I marry in three weeks?" T-Bone asked, winking at her. Venus smirked. "Just wait, Venus. You still gotta pick out that dress," Quiver said. "Hey, hey, enough of the fashion talk, ladies. I'm getting something on radar," Razor said. Then, the jet went into a barrel roll, causing the passengers to scream. "Quit doing that, T-Bone!" Quiver growled. Razor rubbed his head and said, "Yeah, it gives me a headache." "It wasn't me," T-Bone said. Quiver looked up and saw kat-sized bats flying overhead. "You gotta wonder what their mamas fed those boys," she said. Two of the bats landed on the canopy and tried to sink their teeth into the glass, saliva dripping. The glass started to crack as the bats shrieked. "T-Bone, find a way to curve their appetites!" Razor shouted as the bat drool started dripping through the cracks in the glass and dripping on the bridge of his nose. "I'm working on it!" T-Bone shouted as he made the jet do several maneuvers. The bats remained on the canopy and sinking their teeth into the glass. "You trying to curve their *appetites* or *ours*, T-Bone?!" Quiver asked. "They have the advantage as long as we're up here, guys. I say our best chance is on ground," Venus said over the radio. "Roger that, Venus. Landing the TurboKat II." Both jets landed on the ground and went under a tree, causing the bats to get knocked off. When both jets stopped, they opened the canopies and jumped out with their glovatrixes ready. The bats stood on their hind legs and shrieked, showing their large fangs. The Kats covered their ears at the sound of the shrieking. "Could their bite be worse than their bark?!" Quiver asked. "I'm not finding out!" Razor replied. One of the bats flew towards them, mouth wide open. The Kats parted, causing the bat to miss them. The bat flew back and came towards T-Bone. Venus reacted quickly and went to push him out of the way. She pushed just as the bat sank its fangs into Venus' shoulder. "Ow!" she shouted, then smashed her fist into the bat's face. The bat would not release its grip on her shoulder. Quiver spoke a short Latin phrase and produced a piece of garlic then threw it at the bat. The bat shrieked and released its grip on Venus' shoulder. Venus gripped onto her shoulder and gritted her teeth. Quiver picked up the garlic and asked, "Who wants a second helping?" The bats hissed and flew away. "How did you know to use garlic?" T-Bone asked. "Oh, there was a Dracula marathon on a few days ago. Razor and I watched it," Quiver said, smirking. "Next time, I'll supply the cross," Razor said, also smirking and giving Quiver a high five. "To answer your question, Quiver, the bat's bite *is* worse than its bark," Venus said. "You OK, Venus? You look a little pale," Razor said, looking at Venus' face. "Damn bat took quite a bit of blood from me," Venus said, rubbing her shoulder. "Well, let's get you home then. Come on." T-Bone led her back to her jet and lifted her up onto the wing. Venus panted and got down on her paws and knees, sweating a bit. "Venus, you all right?" T-Bone asked, putting his paw on her shoulder. Venus panted, "I... I don't think so. I feel like two swords are sticking into my back..." Razor looked from where he was sitting in the TurboKat II and gasped. "Venus! Look!" he pointed. Venus looked at her back to find two large bat wings were growing. She gasped and then hunched over. T-Bone stepped back as he watched. She increased in size a bit, causing her suit to tear some. She bared her teeth, which showed she was growing fangs. She shrieked, spread her new wings out, and started flapping them. "Oh, no you don't, Venus!" Quiver said, firing grappling hooks from her glovatrix. The hooks wrapped around Venus' feet as she took off into the air. Venus quickly cut the cables off before Quiver could fly out of her seat. Venus shrieked again as she disappeared into the horizon. T-Bone stared into the sky, trying desperately to look for her. "Venus!" he shouted. Then he looked at the ground, and found a heart-shaped gold locket. He slowly bent over to pick it up and stared at it. Then he clenched onto it. Razor and Quiver looked helplessly at each other, then at T-Bone. Chapter 4: The future Swat Kats were in the hangar by the time the TurboKat II entered the hangar. Once the jet stopped, T-Bone jumped out and stormed over to the older Kats. "Why didn't you tell us this would happen to her?!" he asked, eyes glowing a ruby red. "We didn't want you to worry about it. Besides, it's been a long time since that happened. We don't remember a lot of details and we weren't sure if it would happen again," Chance said. "Well, we shouldn't worry, right? I mean, we *do* get her back to normal, right?" Quiver asked as she and Razor came up to them. "Well, I still have a few batty features. Well, I mean I don't crave blood or anything. But I hang upside down just for kicks, but it's rare when I do and I still have those wings," Tigera said. She closed her eyes and then the bat wings appeared on her back. Then, they disappeared. "Well, how do we change her back? And who's behind this?" Razor asked. "We told you, we don't remember a lot of details. So you'll have to find out for yourselves," Buster said. "Great. Now that Boulder and Shera are taking some time off from crime- fighting and Venus has gone off all batty, it's just three of us. That's not enough of us," Quiver said, sitting down. "In case you've forgotten, Quiv, the team started out as two and two could do what six couldn't. We'll be able to take care of things," Razor said. "He's right, but we gotta prepare ourselves for those bats. Why did the garlic work when you threw it at that bat?" T-Bone asked Quiver. "Well, I figured if those are vampire bats, maybe they would hate all things that real vampires would hate," Quiver said. "Oh, really? What else do vampires hate?" "Anything holy. Holy water, crosses, the Bible, garlic, sunlight," Razor said. "Great. Now if we can just find those bats, we'll kick their tails." T-Bone kept silent as a golden chain dangled from his clenched paw. Later that night, the TurboKat II was outside an old church outside the city. T-Bone, Razor, and Quiver were standing in front of the door and looked up at the building. "Are you sure about this, Razor? If Venus is turning into a vampire and hates anything holy, then why would she be in a church?" T-Bone asked. "I know, but maybe she's not completely a vampire yet. This is just a hunch, but maybe before she turns into something unholy she would want to get as much holiness as possible," Razor said, putting his paw on the door and pushing it open. They slowly walked inside and looked around. The colors from the stain- glassed window shone down on them. "Don't suppose she'd be in confession, would you?" Razor asked. "Do you see a confession box around here? Besides, I doubt there's a reverend hanging around here," Quiver said. T-Bone looked above their heads and saw a large bat with its wings covering its face and body. "How are we suppose to see if that's Venus?" he asked. "I dunno. You could always shout at me like you did in that cave a few years ago that woke up those bats!" Razor hissed. The bat shrieked and landed in front of them, revealing itself to be Venus. She opened her mouth, shrieked, and bared her fangs. "Nice going, Razor. You woke her up," T-Bone said, nearly growling. "Hey, you wanted to get her down here," Razor said, returning the growl. "No... fight. I... no like... fight," Venus said in a sub-human voice. "Venus, do you know who did this to you?" Quiver asked. "I... not know. Stood in shadow. Could not see... face or... hear voice. You... leave. Blood... is... diet now. Go... 'fore I... go crazy. I... crave... drink." "I'm not going anywhere without you, Venus," T-Bone said, stepping forward. "Go, Stripes. I... no want... this... happen to you. I bite... you 'come... me." "You can control yourself pretty well. You can stop yourself from getting some blood, right?" Venus fangs grew longer and she shrieked. "I'll take that as a no." Venus shrieked again, pounced and pinned T-Bone to the ground. "Forgive me for this, Stripes. I must feed!" Venus said, lowering her mouth down towards T-Bone's neck. "Hey! We agreed there'd be no biting until the honeymoon," T-Bone said, trying to push her back. "Yes, but you try to have a craving for blood!" Venus growled, sinking her teeth into T-Bone's paw. T-Bone shouted and kicked her off him. Once Venus was off, Venus licked her sharp fangs, which were rich in blood. "Type O, a vampire's favorite. Can I have a second helping?" she asked, looking quite pleased. T-Bone, who was clenching onto his bleeding paw, replied, "Only if you'll eat garlic can you take another bit of blood from me." Venus hissed and came at him again and sank her teeth into his shoulder. "Let him go!" Razor shouted, holding up a cross. Venus looked, removed her teeth from T-Bone's shoulder, hissed, and backed away as Razor came forward. "Ah, so the unholy part of you finally decided to come out and play, huh?" "I was enjoying that drink, Razor. You can do me the favor of buying me another one," Venus said, licking her blood-covered fangs. "Sorry, only person allowed to bite me is my wife. And I can tell she's not too crazy about the idea right now." "Too bad!" Venus lunged at him, only to have Quiver throw the Bible at her feet. Venus shrieked, flapped her wings, and flew to the top of the church. "This isn't over. If I drained enough of T-Bone's blood, he'll be joining me soon," she said. Then she shrieked again and flew out an open window. Razor and Quiver looked at each other with horrified looks and then looked at T-Bone, who was lying on the ground out cold. Razor carefully walked over to him and checked his pulse. "He's still alive, but we don't know if he'll turn into a bat until he wakes up," he said. "What should we do then?" Quiver asked. "To be safe, we're gonna have to tie him up and keep the holy things around. Come on, help me get him up." Chapter 5: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!" "Calm down, Chance! This is for your own good," Tigera said. The future Swat Kats had the future Chance chained to the wall with bat wings on his back and holy items in his teammates' paws. He shrieked loudly and bared his fangs. Katarina held up a piece of garlic to Chance's face, making him to his face and hushing up. "Was this suppose to happen?" Cyclone asked. "If it was, would he be like this, Cyclone?" Ann asked. Just then, the TurboKat II entered the hangar with Quiver in the pilot seat. She and Razor jumped out carrying T-Bone, out cold and tied up in chains. Razor looked up and groaned. "Ah, crud, don't tell me." "Afraid so. This is how your T-Bone's gonna turn out," Firestar said. "Then you didn't know this would happen?" Quiver asked as she and Razor placed T-Bone on the ground. "If we did, do you think we've got these from paper cuts?" Jake asked, referring to the large scratches the SKs had. T-Bone groaned a bit and opened his eyes. Once they were focused he shook his head. "Ah, damn, I feel so drained," he said. "Yeah, Venus took quite a bit of blood out of you, TB. How do you feel besides that?" Quiver asked. "Hot, sweaty, swords in my back... and a need for a dentist," T-Bone said, looking up at her and Razor. He started to get up on his feet, then hunched over, groaning. Two bat wings sprouted from his back. He increased in size as well as his teeth. He flexed his muscles, breaking the chains that held him. "Well, that was a big help," Razor said, sweating somewhat. T-Bone looked at them, extended his wings out, and shrieked loudly. "Yeow! Having super-sensitive ears do have their disadvantages!" Quiver said, covering her ears. T-Bone hissed as he advanced towards the future Kats, then grunted as if he was trying to fight something. He extended his claws once, then retracted them. "Ray... can't.... win," he said. His eyes glowed red as he shrieked and flew out of the hangar. "T-Bone!" Razor and Quiver both shouted. But he was gone. "Ray can't win? What did he mean by that?" Coldfire asked. "I think he meant to say Razor," Razor said. "But it still doesn't make sense. Why would he just say Razor?" Quiver asked, rubbing her chin. "Beats me, but he said something about losing. This can't be reversed?" "From the way he said that, I don't think it can." As Quiver said that, Razor's ears drooped low. Meanwhile, T-Bone was flying through the air, looking at the city lights. He shook his head to clear it and then gripped onto it. "Ah, my aching head. Why am I doing this? What am I even doing up here?" Then he heard some shrieking behind him. He looked back to see several giant vampire bats flying past him. T-Bone watched them as they motioned for him to follow. He looked a little dumbfounded for a moment, then followed. After what seemed like forever, they landed. T-Bone rubbed his aching wings and sighed. The bats shrieked and motioned for him to walk down into a cave. "Damn, you guys are pushy," T-Bone hissed and followed. He walked along the cave and looked around. He could feel eyes watching him. He looked ahead and saw one bat landing in front of a larger bat and knelled to it. "I ordered you to take care of all of the Swat Kats all at once, not one at a time!" the larger bat hissed. "I don't know what stopped me, master. Forgive me," the female bat said, revealing herself to be Venus. T-Bone gasped softly. "There is no forgiveness here, servant!" Venus shrieked in pain and hunched over. The larger bat's eyes glowed a dark blue as this happened. T-Bone watched this, then flapped his wings, and stood in front of her. "Whatever you're doing to her, stop it now before you're gonna need dentures!" he growled. Venus looked up at him, not completely sure who he was. "Don't. Save your own wings, you foolish bastard," she said. "I'd take her advice if I were you, newcomer. You have no idea of my power," the larger bat said. Venus stopped feeling the pain, but T-Bone started feeling it instead. "I won't tolerate insolence." He gave T-Bone a mega-sized watt of power, causing him to pass out. Venus gasped and put her paw on his shoulder. "I trust this won't happen again. Now take care of him." Shortly after that, T-Bone regained his senses. He groaned as he sat up and rubbed his head. Venus was sinking her teeth into the neck of a now dead cow and looked at T-Bone. "Yuck. How can you eat that?" T-Bone asked, twitching his nose. "New taste buds," Venus replied, licking the blood from her teeth. T-Bone got up and walked over to her rubbing his head. Without warning, he sank his vampire fangs into the cow. "Not bad. Who was that bat anyway?" "The head honcho. He's all-powerful. And we don't exactly know who he is." T-Bone nodded slightly, got up, and headed for another part of the small room they were in. "I'm sorry I did this to you, Stripes. I didn't mean to do this to you. I tried my hardest to stop myself, but the master is too powerful against us," Venus said as she lowered her eyes and head. The reply T-Bone had was retching into the wastebasket. He came back wiping some blood from his mouth and sitting on the ground next to Venus. "Not much on cattle blood, are you?" Venus asked as she took her teeth out of the cow. T-Bone coughed, "Guess not. Why is it that we don't act any different now? I still think like a good guy." "Beats me. I just know that the head bat controls us. He explained to us that he injected the bats from the zoo with some kind of action potion that he created himself. When that one bat bit me, it was passed through me. And the same when I bit you." "Then we can't do anything to beat him?" "Not to my knowledge. I'm still working on a plan. If I can just get my mind off blood I might get somewhere." T-Bone grinned and said, "I have something in mind..." Venus chuckled, "Read you loud and clear." Meanwhile at the hangar, Razor was pacing around the room while Quiver was looking through her spell book. "There's gotta be something we can do to get T-Bone and Venus back," Razor said. Quiver was just going through her spell book and muttering to herself. "It's hard to read this when Chance is shrieking his damn head off!" she growled as Chance shrieked. She pointed her finger at him, and his mouth instantly closed. "Better." "You finding anything, Quiv?" Razor asked, still pacing. "Negative. We'd have to try every spell to see if it works, and we don't have that kind of time. And I'm the only one who can handle the power." "Ahem! In case you didn't notice, I'm the future Quiver here. I can handle the magic," Katarina said. "All right. Radio contact us when you find a solution. Let's go, Razor." "All right. And you can take our younger Swat Kats to help you out," Buster offered, pushing Cyclone and Rumble ahead a bit. "All right, but if we come back with wings and fangs, you get to join us," Thunderclap said. "We can do better on our own than having six others with us," Razor said. "Then just take two or three of them. You're gonna need the extra backup," Jake said. "Fine. Who volunteers?" Hot Shot, Cyclone, and Rumble stepped up to them. "Ready and waiting!" they said. "Let's head out, then," Quiver said as she jumped into the pilot's seat of the TurboKat. Razor followed. The younger Swat Kats jumped into their jet and took off as soon as the other jet did. "Well, let's begin trying out spells on my brother, shall we?" Katarina asked, opening the spell book, then speaking in Latin. Chance started changing, then changed back to his bat-like self. "Crap. Next spell." Chapter 6: Both T-Bone and Venus were hanging upside down by their feet on a bar sleeping when they heard an alarm blaring. T-Bone was so surprised that his feet released the bar and he fell and landed on his head. "Ouch. What's that?" he asked, rubbing his head. Venus did a backflip and landed on her feet. "Someone's entered the cave. The lead bat is going to control us into attacking them," she said. Suddenly, they started flapping their wings and flying out of the room. "I hate it when I'm not told I'm going to go suck out somebody's blood," T-Bone said. "Me, too," Venus sighed. At the other end of the cave, Razor was leading the way with his helmet light. The younger SKs stayed close together. "I hate the darkness," Cyclone said, clinging onto Rumble. "Calm down, Cyclone. Nothing to fear with HotShot here," HotShot said, holding up his sword and letting fire engulf it, adding light to the darkness. Quiver stopped for a moment, letting Rumble and Cyclone bump into her. "What's up, Quiv?" Rumble asked. "Don't you hear that shrieking?" Quiver asked. "You have good ears, Quiver, we don't." They got their weapons and holy items ready as the giant bats flew towards them with their mouths wide open. Meanwhile, Katarina was slumping into a chair and sighing as she looked at the spell book in her lap. "No, this is not working," she said. Chance would not cease his shrieking and that was not helping her either. Jake and Thunderclap took out their thunder whips, cracked them, lashed them on both of Chance's legs, and electricity surged through his body. "SHUT UP!" they both shouted. When the electricity stopped, Chance started shrinking. The wings on his back disappeared as did his fangs. He panted as he returned to normal. "Damn, what an upset! Hope you guys forgive me," he said. "All right! Chance is back!" Coldfire said as she high-foured Firestar. "We just have to electrify the bats to change them back! I gotta contact Razor and Quiver!" Katarina said as she rushed to the radio. Back with the other Swat Kats, they were easily taking care of the giant bats. "Go eat some garlic!" HotShot said, throwing some garlic at the bats. They shrieked and backed away. Then T-Bone and Venus appeared. "Crud, it's the team!" T-Bone said to himself. "Just keep our distance, guys, and we won't have to use the holy stuff on you," Razor said, holding up the Bible. Venus hissed as T-Bone flew towards them. "Get out now!" he yelled. The Kats jumped out of the way just as their communicators went off. "Rumble here. What's up?" "We found a way to turn the bats back. You gotta use electricity and that'll change them back," Katarina said. "You heard her, guys. Razor, shocking is your department," Quiver said. "Roger! Sorry to have to do this to you, buddy," Razor said as he got up and T-Bone came flying at him again. He took his whip and prepared to crack it. "Time to show this kat a new trick! Lightning wave, go!" He cracked it and a wave of electricity struck T-Bone to the ground. T-Bone shrieked in pain until he turned back to normal. His uniform was torn a bit, but nothing major. "Thanks, buddy. I needed that," he said, standing up. Venus shrieked as she spread her wings out. "OK, Venus, it's your turn," Razor said as he prepared to do that move again. But then a bat came up from behind him and knocked him to the ground. It was the head bat. "Foolish feline. You won't get her so long as I, Rafinesque, am head bat," he said. "Venus, get control of yourself! Don't lower yourself to that flying bug- eating rat!" T-Bone said. Rafinesque walked behind Venus and moved the hair away from her neck. "You are going to pay for that, Swat Kat. Now Venus can finish her job and exterminate you and the rest of your little fan club," he said, then sank his teeth into Venus' neck. "Take your fangs out of her!" T-Bone growled. Rafinesque did so and licked the blood on his fangs. Venus groaned and hunched over. She started growing more in size, causing her uniform to tear and then fall off. She got hairier and she was looking more like a white vampire bat than a kat. She got on all fours and shrieked. "What did you do to her?!" Quiver asked. "She's no longer your species. Had you each the strength of 20 kats you still wouldn't live. Her bite is that poisonous." Venus bared her sharp fangs and lunged at them. T-Bone backed away slowly. "Any suggestions, SKs?" he asked. "Just one, and I'm sure it's the same one on everyone's mind," Razor said. "Aye," Quiver said. "RUN!" they all said, then did so. They ran out of the cave with Venus flying right behind. She flew high into the air and dove down and then swooped over T-Bone's head, kicking him to the ground. T-Bone rubbed his head and got back up. "Razor, electrocute her!" "I'm working on it! Lightning wave, go!" Razor said, releasing the wave again. Venus shrieked and fell to the ground. She shook her head and shrieked again. "What the hell? It's not working!" Quiver said. "She's too powerful now to be struck by just a few thousand megavolts. We gotta try the Scrambler Missile," Razor said. "Are you crazy, Razor?! That could kill her!" T-Bone said, picking Razor up by his shirt. "T-Bone, it could be the only way!" "You're not killing her!" Venus shrieked loudly and started flying back into the sky. "She's gonna do that dive attack again," Quiver said. Razor looked around, then his eyes settled on a big, bright sign on a building. "I've got a plan! Come on!" Then they started running towards the city with Venus close behind in the sky. They ran up to the building Razor was looking at. They used their grappling hooks to climb up the building and got behind the large sign lit up with thousands of light bulbs. "If we can distract her long enough, we might be able to use the sign. It has way more electricity than my whip does and that might effect her. We'll be all right if we keep our glovatrixes on. And if we can find a way to get this insulated vest on her, it won't kill her either," Razor explained, holding up a blue, red, and black vest. "Great. Who wants regular and who wants extra crispy?" Rumble asked. Cyclone and HotShot bipped him. Venus then landed behind them and shrieked. Razor and Quiver held up either the Bible or a cross. Venus hissed and knocked them out of their paws. "She's not effected by the holy items either," HotShot said. Venus spread out her wings, then swung them at T-Bone, causing him to get knocked over to a brick wall. He put his paw over his chest, which was now scratched and bleeding and bared part of his chest. Venus came towards him and growled. Then she noticed a glimmer coming from his neck. She saw T-Bone wearing her golden heart-shaped locket. Venus' light blue eyes returned, nearly filling up with tears. T-Bone slowly and painfully stood up, looking at her all the while. "Don't do this, Venus. This isn't your nature. Come back to us," he said. Venus shrieked softly. "Guys, NOW!" T-Bone shouted. Before Venus could react, the other Swat Kats forced the vest on her back and then shoved her over to the sign, causing electricity to surge through her body. She shrieked loudly in pain. Several light bulbs were burning out. Venus shoved them off of her and got down on her paws and knees. The vest she was wearing was now shredded. She panted and then shrieked loudly. As she shrieked, she started changing back. The fangs disappeared, her fur grew shorter, but her bat wings remained. She panted, sweated, closed her eyes, and fainted. Quiver reached into Razor's backpack and pulled out a blanket. She went over to Venus and wrapped it around her. T-Bone ran over to them and looked at Venus. "Is she...?" "She's alive. Razor, we're lucky your plan worked," Quiver said. "I always said my plans were crazy enough to work," Razor said, shrugging. T-Bone picked Venus up in his arms and stood up. He looked in the sky and saw Rafinesque overhead. "You have not heard the last of Rafinesque, Swat Kats!" Then he disappeared. HotShot looked and saw several Enforcer choppers in the distance. "Unless you guys want to pay for a couple thousand light bulbs, we better get moving," he said. The Kats nodded and then got moving. Several moments later, the Enforcer chopper landed. Commander Feral stepped out and looked around. "Damn vigilantes. One of these days I'm putting those six behind bars," he mumbled to himself, then got back into the chopper and took off. Chapter 7: Venus' eyes opened slowly and looked around. "It's about time you came around," the older Katarina said. "Aye, but is she herself again?" the younger Katarina asked. "Did we have that party already? I feel like I've been drinking and I have SUCH a migraine," Venus said, rubbing her head. The younger Chance chuckled, "That's my girl. You roughed us up pretty good there." She looked at his chest, which was bandaged. "I did that?" He nodded. "Holy kats. I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop myself." "We could tell you couldn't. Until you saw this," the younger Jake said as he held up the locket T-Bone was wearing earlier, "you were hungry for our blood." "My locket!" Chance placed it back around Venus' neck. She sat up, keeping the blanket over her bare body. "I'm so uncomfortable. What am I lying on?" she asked. "Your wings," Coldfire said. She looked at her back to see the bat wings. "I'm still a bat?" "Well, not completely a bat. You're 98% kat, and the other 2% is bat. We changed you back, but we didn't quite get all the kinks out," Rumble said. The future Tigera showed her wings and wrapped them around her shoulders like a cloak. "They have their advantages, Venus. And you can make them disappear, too," she said, making her wings disappear. "Well, I guess..." Then, Buster and Ann climbed down the ladder. "Is everyone all right?" Ann asked. "Aside from being electrocuted, I think Venus and I are all right. Though she still has a few batty features," Chance said. "So we noticed," Buster said, touching one of Tigera's wings. "Seeing how we caught the news, I believe some congratulations are in order, guys?" Jake asked. "Actually... I'm not really having a kitten right now," Ann said, lowering her eyes a bit. "WHAT?!" the future Buster and Ann shouted together. "That's it! History's been altered!" the future Chance said, slumping down into a chair. The present Buster and Ann both grinned and said, "Fooled you!" "Why, you little rats," the future Kat chuckled. "So how many weeks pregnant are you?" Venus asked. "Four. But I gotta wait another four before I get an ultrasound and find out what it is. Personally, I think I'll wait longer before I find out," Ann replied. "Ditto. So you guys gotta find a replacement for us for a while," Buster said. Then the hangar door opened again and Kari and David came down. "Hi, all! We're finally here. Sorry, we had homework to do," Kari said. David looked around and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Am I crazy, or am I seeing triple?" he asked. "Coolness! The future Swat Kats!" Kari said. "You knew about us?" Hot Shot asked. "Mmm-hmm. I saw how you became the Swat Kats. It was bitchin'." "Hey... why don't Kari and David take over our spots for a while? They've been in battle and they're good," Buster said. "Huh?" both Kari and David asked. "Did we miss something?" David asked. "Buster and I are just taking a break from the cockpit for a while. So we could use someone to help the others," Ann said. "Buster got you pregnant?" Kari asked. "Yup." "I dunno. What do you think, David?" "I dunno. Could be cool. Could be dangerous..." David said, then he and Kari looked at each other in the eye. "Could be totally bitchin'!" they both said, high-fouring each other. "Great. Grand. Wonderful. Now we have two Swat Kat trainees. We have our work cut out for us, gang," Chance said. Suddenly there was a beeping. Coldfire checked her watch. "All right! That portal's opening up again in five minutes! Let's hit the trail!" she said. The future SKs changed into their G-suits, said their good-byes, jumped into their jets, and took off. "OK, so, uh, now what?" David asked. "Well, you two have to come up with names, get a handle of Boulder and Shera's weapons, and do some training before you actually go into battle," Chance said. Kari clicked her shoes together and gave Chance a salute. "Sir, yes, sir! You may begin the training, sir!" "You gonna be a wise ass or do you want to be a Swat Kat?" Kat asked. "I pick Swat Kat. Damn, can you guys not take a joke." For now, we leave them to their training and a new beginning. THE END