Mad Kat Land: The Most Dangerous Place on Earth By Kari Gilmore Chapter 1: It has been about four months since David and Kari have become Boulder and Shera's replacements on the team. And quite a bit has happened since then. ((Author's note: All this stuff will be up soon, but my friend Storm Turmoil Furlong and I have been brewing up some stuff and they'll be up momentarily.)) Katarina and Tigera both shared the same dream of what it would be like if they were not Swat Kats, had no powers, children, etc. A week after that, Chance and Tigera got married. As everyone was relaxing, a strange light brought them, including Buster and Ann but not including Kari and David, to a strange place where four of their friends were at ((The SKs from Storm Furlong's fan fics)). They fought a few battles and found out that Jettona was not working alone when she killed Jake's mother. A monster named Bat'ta stole her soul and kept it in a sphere. When the sphere was broken, Athena's spirit arose and materialized. It took a small bit of time, but everyone was convinced that she was the real thing, after all there had already been two impersonators of Jake's mother. When they returned home with her, their four friends got married. The next day, Katarina, Tigera, and Storm ((one of Storm Furlong's chars)) were pregnant. It was later discovered that both Tigera and Storm were having twins. Since all the she-kats knew magic, they all had the nine-hour pregnancy. Storm ended up with a black tom-kitten and a white she-kitten which she and her husband Will (Chance's double) named Draven and Ravena. Tigera and Chance got a tom-kitten and a she-kitten named Lance and Gwenevere. Jake and Kat got a tom-kitten named Christopher, but called him Kit for short. More happened, but you will have to wait until the story comes out. Now we move onto the present, where Ann is now starting to show pregnancy and David and Kari are still getting their SK training. "I'm telling ya, after four months of working with these daggers, you'd think I'd get the hang of them by now," Kari said, trying to twirl the daggers in her fingers, then dropping them. She growled to herself and bent over to pick them up. Then a shadow loomed over her, let out a shout, then pounced on her. She yelped in surprise and got pinned to the ground. "Christopher!" Katarina said. Kari growled and tapped her claws on the ground as she was still pinned to the ground by Kit, Jake and Kat's son. Kit looked, got an embarrassed look on his face, then quickly got up. "Sorry, Kari. I thought you were Jade," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Kit, by the way, looks a lot like Jake, except a hint of gray in his brown fur and green eyes. Kari got up, along with the daggers, and starred at him. "Jade's upstairs. And remind me to pounce you later for that, Kit," she said. "Gotcha." With that, Kit climbed up the hangar ladder. Kari turned around, screamed, and ducked as a boomerang passed over her head. David caught it, and blushed slightly. "Sorry, Kare Bear. Still working on the aim," he said. "I swear, you're either trying to decapitate me or make me go bald!" Kari said, tossing the daggers aside. "Take it easy, Kari. You'll both get the hang of these weapons sooner or later," Katarina said, leaning against the wall. "Kat, we've been training 4 months on weapons alone. We have no problem with combat, but the weapons..." David said. "Yeah. We keep like this, Buster and Ann will be back on the team and we'll never get to fight!" Kari said. Buster then started climbing down the ladder, then waited at the bottom of it. "Easy, Annie. Watch your stomach," he said as Ann started climbing down the ladder. She came down slowly and Buster had his arms up in case she needed help. Once she got to the bottom, she sat down in the nearest chair. Ann was in her usual dress, but it was a bigger size. Her stomach was already swelling up from the pregnancy. "Speak of the devil. Hey, Buster, Ann. How's it going?" Kat asked, looking at them. "Morning sickness is leaving, appetite is taking its place," Ann said, rubbing her stomach. "And how is the training going, kids?" Buster asked. "Slowly. Very slowly," both David and Kari said. "They're great at combat, no problem there. But it's the weapons handling that they can't handle," Kat said. "Can they handle the glovatrixes?" Ann asked. "Aye, but--" "Then let them use those. It's already been four months and they can't handle the 'rang and the daggers," Buster said. The hangar door opened and Venus came through, flapping her bat wings as she flew in. When the door closed, she landed on the ground and wrapped her wings around her shoulders. "Good news, I'm getting the hang of these wings," Venus said. Then two other teenage kats, also with bat wings, came flying into the hangar and stumbled into a few trashcans, making a loud crash. Venus winced and said, "Lance and Gwen, on the other paw, are not." "At least David and I aren't the only kats having trouble with something," Kari said, folding her arms across her chest. Then two panthers with bat wings came out from behind the trashcans and stretched out. "How can you handle these wings, Mom?" Lance asked, rubbing his head. "It helps if you were turned into a giant, blood-sucking bat," Venus said, making her wings disappear. Lance and Gwen turned back into kats and made their wings disappear. "Well, I'm through with flying lessons for today. I'm going out for some burgers. Who wants to join me?" Gwen said, putting her long, curly white hair into a ponytail. Kit hung upside down from the hangar door at the top of the ladder. "I heard burgers, I'm very sure I heard burgers. I'm in, so long as I'm not paying," he said. "I'm in, too," Lance said. "We've been practicing all day. We deserve some junk food," David said as Kari nodded. Then they all headed up the ladder. "Kittens. You gotta love 'em," Buster said, watching them leave. "So, you guys find out what your kitten is yet?" Venus asked, taking off her helmet. "We're not going to. We decided to be surprised. Though I'm probably gonna go off the walls until I know what it is." "I'm probably going to go online and check out the websites if there's another way of seeing whether it's a tom or a she. We gotta get going to work. Keep us updated on how our replacements handle," Ann said as she and Buster headed for the ladder. "Aye, so long as you keep us updated on your kit," Kat said. "You got it," Buster said after he and Ann were out of the hangar. Meanwhile at a nearby burger place, David and Kari were carrying two trays of food over to a table where Kit, Lance, and Gwen were sitting. They sat down and started to eat. "So, how's training coming along?" Lance asked. "How's flying coming along?" Kari asked, biting on a french fry. "About as easy as eating soup with a fork." "Same here. We just can't handle their weapons. Gets harder every time we try," David said, sipping his drink. "Same here for flying. It's a little difficult to fly when your DNA consists a bat and panther mix breed," Gwen said. "Yeah. There are times when I wish Skylar and Jade were as klutzy as you guys so you don't have to suffer alone," Kit said, swallowing a bite of hamburger. Kari and David both slapped him on the backside of his head. "You *would* wish that on them. They're your sisters. Why do you have to be like all little brothers?" Kari asked. "Just the way I am." David put ketchup on his french fries and took a bite out of one of them. "What are we gonna do about our weapons handling anyway?" "Simple. Use the glovatrixes," Kari said, crossing her legs. David rolled his eyes and resumed eating, as did the others. Then Gwen rose her head up and perked up her ears. "I hear carnival music," she said. They all looked and saw several trucks pass by, all with "MK Land" written on the side. "A new amusement park? Bitchin'!" Kit said. "But what's the MK stand for?" Lance asked. "Mayhaps MegaKat Land?" David asked. "No, I don't think so. Oh, this seems so familiar. Where have I seen this kind of thing before?" Kari asked herself, tapping her claws on the table. A few days later, the amusement park was already set up and ready for its first customers. The Kats Eye News team, Mayor Manx, and the Deputy Mayor were there to present the opening. Buster got the camera out of the van, Ann was preparing to go on, Mayor Manx had a speech written by Callie ready, and Callie had the golden scissors ready to cut the ribbon that was tied across the entrance of the park. "Ready?" Buster asked, hoisting the camera up on his shoulder. Ann placed her hairbrush in her purse and nodded. Buster held up his fingers, counting down to the time when he was going to start. Then the red light came on and Ann grabbed her microphone. "This is Ann Gora of Kats Eye News live at the grand opening of the MK Land amusement park. Right now, we have a huge crowd of MegaKat City's youth ready to go in and have a good time. We are now waiting for the owner of the park to arrive and for the Mayor to deliver his speech." Then Callie was handed a piece of paper. She read through it and then handed it to Ann. "Uh... This just in. We have now been given word to give the speech, cut the ribbon, and allow the crowd in the park." "Oh, very well then," Mayor Manx said, delivering his speech. A few minutes later, Manx was reaching the end of his speech. "... And now, with these golden scissors, our Deputy Mayor will cut the ribbons that will open the doors and let our children run and have fun. Callie, if you please." Callie nodded, used the scissors she had in her paws, and cut the ribbon that was in front of the gate. The kittens scurried through the doors, but the guard at the door would not let the parents through. "Sorry, folks. Only children are allowed inside on opening day. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor, however, may go in," the guard said, stopping the parents and letting the children, Mayor, and Callie inside. Buster and Ann, who were still there and recording, looked at each other, puzzled. "Well, it looks like we are unable to go inside and bring you more on the new amusement park today, but when adults are invited inside, then we will bring you more on MK Land. This is Ann Gora, Kats Eyes News. Back to you in the studio," Ann said into the camera. Then the red light went off on the camera and Buster placed it on the ground. "There's something fishy going on around here, Annie," he said. "I know, but we're going to get more on this story. Mark my words." "Ann, I don't want you to get so worked up over a story, especially at this point in the pregnancy. Come on, we'll go home and I'll make a pizza." Buster led her to their van, got in, and then drove off. When everyone had cleared the area, the guard at the gate put on a crooked smile. Suddenly, the front gate changed shape. It turned into the shape of Mad Kat's head, with his mouth wide open. Chapter 2: "Yah-tay!" Kari shouted as she jump-kicked David in the stomach. It sent David flying over into a pile of pillows. He got back up and returned the punches and kicks she had to offer. Then he threw her over his shoulder and into the pillow pile. "OK, kitts, that'll do," Chance said, tossing them each a towel. David caught his and the other towel landed over Kari's face. She got up, swearing under her breath. Jake, Kat, and Tigera then came over. "Well, at least combat is your strong point," Jake said. Buster climbed down the ladder part way and ducked his head down to look at them. "Anybody up for a pizza? My treat," he said. "We'd like to, Bust, but we've got some more training to do. Thanks anyway," Tigera said. "What are you doing here anyway? Weren't you and Ann going to check out the grand opening of that new MK Land?" Kat asked. "That was our plan, but the guard said that only children can go in on opening day, but they made an exception with Callie and Manx." David and Kari looked at each other, then at the others. "I smell a rat," Jake said. Kari looked around and picked up a large rat and held it by the tail. "Found it," she said in a toothy grin. "That wasn't the kind of rat I meant, Kari. Bust, you get going and we'll check the place out. Let's kick some tail!" When night came, the two TurboKats were on their way to the amusement park with two Cyclotrons following. Venus, Lance, and Gwen were close behind, flapping their bat wings rapidly. "I still don't know how you convinced us to let you come along," Venus said, looking back at them. "We have our ways," Lance said, winking. David and Kari were in their SK uniforms and were sharing a Cyclotron with Kit in the C-tron next to them. "You sure you can take care of yourself?" David asked. "I should be asking you guys the same question," Kit said, riding ahead of them. "Hmph. Smart-ass," Kari said. Then they arrived at the front of the amusement park. "Yuck! Either someone has bad tastes, or someone has a bad face," Venus said. "And the colors are so tacky. Who designed the front gate, Stevie Wonder?" Gwen asked, pulling on her necklace. "Just my luck. She has her mother's fashion criticism," T-Bone said to himself as he jumped out of the jet. "You're gonna pay for that, T-Bone," Venus said. "Put it on my bill. Now what do we have here?" "Mad Kat's big mouth is being used as the front gate. But he can't be the one behind all this. Only way Lenny Ringtail could be Mad Kat again was with that kat-in-the-box and it's locked up in heavy security," Razor said. Quiver seemed a little distracted when Razor said Mad Kat, but then she slapped herself to get her attention back on the mission. "Can we go inside now or are we afraid of being digested?" she asked. "Oh, right, Quiv. Come on, Kats," T-Bone said as he led the group inside the open mouth of the front gate shaped like Mad Kat. They looked around, but all that could be seen was darkness. "Is anyone able to see anything in front of their faces?" Kit asked. "I can't. My headlight won't work either," Kari said. "Ow! Who walked into me?!" Venus asked. "Ouch! Who stepped on my tail?!" Razor said. "Sorry, Dad, thought you were Gwen," Kit said. Then there was a smacking sound. "Ow! Who smacked me?!" Quiver growled. "Sorry, thought you were Kit," Gwen said. "Would you guys cut it out?" Lance asked. "Yeah, you're acting like kittens. Even though part of us are kittens. Still..." David said. Then a door opened, letting in light. The group shouted and covered their eyes. "Yeow! Easy with that flash!" T-Bone said. He took a step forward and felt part of the floor open up. The group then fell down the hole and down a shaft. A fork in the shaft came up and the group got separated. T-Bone, Razor, Quiver, and Venus went down the right shaft while David, Kari, Kit, Lance, and Gwen went down the left. Kit extended his claws and dug them deep into the metal and slowly came to a stop at the end of the shaft that was about to go down. He grunted several times as the others gripped onto each other's ankles. Kari was at the end and looked down the shaft that was going downward. She gripped onto David's ankles tightly. "I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heights..." she repeated. "Act like a Swat Kat," Lance said, looking down at her. "Yeah. Besides, you should be worried about falling. By the way, Kit, don't let go," Gwen said. "You all right, Kit?" David asked. "Yeah. I'm just grateful that I have Mom's claws," Kit grunted, regripping onto the edge of the shaft metal. "Lance, Gwen, think you can fly us out of here?" David asked. "If so, do it quickly," Kari said, still gripping onto David's ankles tightly. "Uh-uh. Not enough room to spread our wings," Lance said. "Besides, we can't carry a lot of weight," Gwen said. "Oh, so you're saying we're overweight?" Kari asked, looking up and looking annoyed. "I wouldn't lay it on so heavily, but now that you mention it..." "Lance!" David said, also looking annoyed. "Hey! Would you guys stop moving around so much? I'm starting to lose my grip!" Kit said. "Question," Gwen said. "Yes, Gwen?" "Are we gonna find a way to go back up, or should we go down?" "Uh-uh. I'm not going down. I hate falling," Kari said. "Then up it is," Lance said. "Oh, this would be so much easier if I didn't have to carry so much weight," Kit said, starting to climb up a way. Kari growled, "You're lucky I'm down here and you're up there, Clawson." "Why are she-kats so sensitive about their weight anyway?" David asked himself. Kari extended her claws and circled one around David's ankle. "Cut it out!" "Quit making weight jokes!" "When are you gonna forget about it?" "When you stop talking about... Crap!" "Huh?!" Kari began to slip off David's ankles. "Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have put on paw cream!" Then she slipped off and screamed as she fell down the shaft. "Oh, crud!" Gwen said. "Well, what do ya know? Her weight made the difference," Kit said to himself as he started climbing up again. "I gotta go after her. Wish me luck," David said, letting go of Gwen's ankles and falling down the shaft. "Well, scratch two Swat Kat trainees. Let's get to finding our folks," Lance said as he watched David go down the shaft and Kit climbed up the shaft. Back with David, he just came out at the end of the shaft and landed on something. "That was a soft landing," he said to himself. "Not for me, it wasn't. Unless you have a death wish, Noble, you'll get off me," something underneath him said. David got up and looked at what he was sitting on. Kari was on the ground, tapping her claws on the ground. "If I get crushed under again, this is the last story I'm writing." David blushed as he got up and said, "Sorry about that. You shoulda moved." "Well, if I *knew* you were coming, I would've moved. Where are the others?" "Going back up to find T-Bone and the others." "Then I suggest we do the same. But I am *not* going back up there." "Fine, scaredy she-kat. Let's get going." David walked ahead while Kari stayed behind for a moment and growled softly. Oh, you are *so* lucky you're cute, David, she thought to herself sternly. David stopped for a moment and looked back at her. She walked ahead of him and he stayed for a moment. Then he followed after her. She's got people problems, that's for damn sure. But she's got other qualities I like. If she wasn't so stubborn like Quiver, I'd actually tell her I like her more than a partner, David thought to himself as he walked alongside with Kari. Chapter 3: Meanwhile, a door on the wall opened and the Swat Kats fell out of it, landing on top of each other with T-Bone on the bottom. "I feel like a stack of pancakes. Get off!" T-Bone growled. The other three did so, quite quickly. Quiver bent back and heard her back cracking. "Someone has a sick way of dealing with guests," she said, cracking her knuckles. "Yeah. I just hope the kitts are all right," Venus said. "I'm more worried about David and Kari. I've seen them at each others' throats quite often lately," Quiver said, then grinned, "It must be love." "Huh?!" all three Swat Kats asked. "I hear if two people fight, they really care about each other. And if you correctly recall a little over a year ago, Razor and I were at each others' throats and you know what happened a little later after that." T-Bone nodded, "Yeah, I recall. You both gave me a headache during the first two months." Then a laugh surrounded the room. "Yak, yak, yak, Swat Kats. All you talk about is yourselves. Why don't you think up a new subject?" the voice asked as the Kats looked around. "Who said that?" Razor asked. "Getting bad vibes, boys," Quiver said. T-Bone's eyes scanned the room. "You through playing mind games or are you gonna show your ugly mug?" he asked. Quiver and Venus looked at a painting and aimed their weapons at it. "Aye, come on out, Mad Kat. I wanna see how uglier you've gotten since last time we met," Quiver said. Out of the painting of a jester entertaining a king and queen came the jester in yellow and orange. "Well, looks like the great mystery of the park's title is solved. The MK stands for Mad Kat Land," Venus said. "Ah, the Great Swat Kats. And you've brought along your girlfriends, eh? Ha ha ha ha ha!" Mad Kat laughed. "Ach, he's crazier than when I remember him," Quiver said. "I knew that accent sounded familiar. Queen Katarina, destroyer of cities, nutty friend to the King, Queen, Knight, and the new Jester of Megalith City, siding with these goody-two-shoes? I've lost all respect I ever had in you... which happens to be none! Ha ha ha ha!" T-Bone looked at Quiver and asked, "You knew Callista?" "Aye, I'll tell you the story after we beat this guy. Eat ice!" Quiver shouted, throwing ice stars towards Mad Kat's weak spot, his hat. Mad Kat disappeared before it made contact. "Crap! Where'd he go now?" Venus asked. Then the ground shook beneath them and they saw the wall moving down. Razor looked up and asked, "Are we moving up or is the ceiling moving down?" "Either way, you're going to be crushed, Swat Rats! That is... unless you live through the arrows that will be shooting at you when you near the ceiling!" Mad Kat's voice said. Venus looked up and saw arrows shooting from two walls several hundred feet above them. "Well, this is just great," T-Bone said. "Meanwhile, I think I'll watch the kittens who accompanied you here enjoy all of the rides that I've set up! Ha ha ha ha ha!" "If one hair on their heads get sliced, Mad Kat--!" But Mad Kat's voice disappeared. "Damn it." Meanwhile, Kit, Lance, and Gwen finally climbed out of the shaft and into the open. "Finally! Now get off my ankles!" Kit growled as Lance and Gwen let go of his ankles and climbed out of the shaft the rest of the way. "Don't be so pushy, Clawson," Lance said. "Sorry, pushiness runs in the family." "Yeah, well, just remember, our dad possesses the same pushiness gene as your mom," Gwen said. They stood up and looked around. They walked over to a sign that was nearby. "'Manic Merry-Go-Round,'" they read out loud. They looked and saw several merry-go-rounds that were similar to Ferris wheels, only smaller. And below the merry-go-rounds was a hole lined with spikes. "Lovely. Times like these I'm glad I have bat wings," Lance said. "Yeah. Too bad we're still mastering it," Gwen said, sprouting her bat wings as did Lance. Kit ran up towards one of the merry-go-round's cart, jumped, and gripped onto the side. Then he climbed inside the basket. "You two coming?" he asked. Then he saw Lance and Gwen flying overhead. "Guess so." "I get the feeling that this is too easy," Lance said. "Yeah, easy for *you*," Kit said as he jumped from cart to cart. Then Gwen screamed and fell into the cart that Kit was in. "What happened?" Kit asked as Gwen gripped onto one of her wings. "Something hit my wing. Lance, look out!" Lance looked and saw a kat hooked onto a bunch of balloons and shooting some exploding balloons towards him. Lance flew higher, got behind the kat, and popped his balloons with his claws. The kat then fell in the hole with the spikes, which the kats looked away when he hit. "How unpleasant," Kit said as he jumped one last cart and landed on safe ground. Gwen also jumped and landed in front of him as Lance glided down next to them. "All right, now where to?" Gwen asked as Lance started wrapping her wing around with a bandage. "Whatever comes up, I guess. Come on, let's find the Swat Kats," Kit said as he, Lance, and Gwen walked ahead. Meanwhile, Kari and David were looking at a sign that was near an airplane ride. " 'Flight to the Nowhere'. Catchy," David said. "Yeah. But how are we gonna get across it?" Kari asked, looking below the ride and seeing a deep, dark hole below. "Simple. Use the planes." With that, David jumped onto one of the planes when he was able to reach it. He went up along with it while the cables pulled it up. When the plane reached to the point where she could jump, Kari jumped on the plane David was on when he jumped to the next plane. "What's your hurry?" Kari asked as she jumped next to David when they made it to the other side. "That guy," David said, pointing ahead at a kat with a gun. He did a back flip and pulled the trigger, causing fire to shoot out. David and Kari engaged their jet packs and flew over the kat. "Lucky for us, his fire gun doesn't reach out very far," Kari said. They flew over him and landed on the ground above the kat. "Crap. More planes," David said. "And our packs are almost overheated," Kari said. "Let's see. We can either walk across the spikes, use our jet packs until we've reached one of the planes, or we can go back down to the ground below that kat with the fire gun and go through that way," David said. "Spikes... too messy. Jet packs... too risky. Under it is!" They went back down, set of an explosion to open a wall, then ran through it. The made another hole to get out and climbed up the next wall to get back on leveled ground. "That was fun. Now let's move," David said as he and Kari resumed walking ahead. Chapter 4: Meanwhile, the other Swat Kats were still where Mad Kat left them. Razor, Quiver, and Venus were sitting while T-Bone was examining the wall that kept moving down. "There must be some way out of here," he said to himself. "Has anyone noticed that whenever it's just the four of us, we wind up in a situation like this? Why is that?" Venus asked. "Good question. Well, while we're waiting for something to happen, Quiver, mind telling us how you know Queen Callista?" Razor asked Quiver. "Well, since we don't have anything better to do, I suppose. I've known Callista since kittenhood. Our fathers always visited each other's kingdom, bringing us along with them. But we didn't see each other for a long while when I was exiled. While I was still a warlord, I was hoping she would accept me when I came to her kingdom. She very glad to see me, nonetheless, even though I was a warlord at the time. She was betrothed to an older kat who looked like Manx and her head knight looked much like Feral. Then there was Mad Kat as their jester. A new jester, who looks much like David Litterbin, came to take his place. I'm sure you know what happened after that," Quiver said. "Yeah. He went crazy, got locked in the dungeon, and swore revenge. But we didn't know he was the jester of Megalith City," T-Bone said. "If I recall the time you met her correctly, Callista wasn't in her 20s yet. And she wasn't betrothed until a few years later, the knight that looked like Feral hadn't been knighted until a year when you came around, and Mad Kat wasn't the jester until a few months after you came," Venus said. "I suppose. While we're waiting for some danger, why don't we put our heads together and think up a way to get our tails out of here and save the kittens?" Razor asked. The others nodded, got in a circle, and started talking. Meanwhile, Kit, Lance, and Gwen made it to the next ride of Mad Kat Land. Gwen came to the sign next to the large Ferris wheel in front of them. "'Frightful Ferris Wheel,'" she read. "Yeah, right. It's not even doing anything," Kit said. Lance looked ahead and saw a lever. Then he looked up to see part of the next ride. "Only way to get up there is to get pull the lever, ride in one of the baskets, and then jump out. Since I can't carry two at a time, one of us is gonna have to get the ride started," he said. Then Gwen looked up and said, "We're gonna have to get it started quick, boys. We've got company." Kats with helicopters attached to their backs were flying overhead. They began tossing exploding balloons. "OK, who wants to keep those guys busy and who wants to throw the switch?" Kit asked. "I'm getting the switch," both Lance and Gwen said. Then they both glared at each other. "I called it first, Lance!" "You afraid to take care of those guys, Gwen?" "Are *you*?" "OK, you guys go and get the switch. I'll deal with these guys." "Well, we were gonna let you pull the switch, but if you say so, Kit-Kat," Lance said as he and Gwen jumped from basket to basket to get to the lever. "OK, I think I've just been tricked by my own cousins. Eh. I'll kill 'em later," Kit said to himself. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a glovatrix. He put it on and fired at the kats. Their balloons popped and they began falling down into some of the baskets. Lance and Gwen made it to the other side and pulled the lever. The motor hummed and the Ferris wheel began to turn. "All aboard who's going aboard!" Kit called to them as he jumped into a basket. Lance and Gwen followed, then jumped out when they saw the next ride. Meanwhile, the pipes above David and Kari's head were leaking. Several drops of water landed on Kari's head. Kari growled, "So far, I'm not too fond of the Wicked Water Slide." "Just wait. We haven't found the slide yet," David said while Kari was getting the water off her head. Once she put her helmet back on, she felt like she was tilting. "Uh... David?" "Yeah?" "Found the slide!" They both shouted as they fell through a trapdoor and went down a water slide. Down this way and that way, they found exploding balloons with Mad Kat's face at almost every turn. David nearly fell off, but Kari quickly grabbed his paw and pulled him back up. "Thanks!" he said, yelling over the loud water. "Hey, you think I was gonna go through the rest of this ride alone? No way!" Kari replied. They continued that way with more exploding balloons ahead of them. When they saw the end of the slide was coming, but there was no ground in sight, they saw a spring, jumped on it, and went flying over a wall ahead. When they landed, they came upon a door. "I hope we're almost done with these rides," David said. "Same here. Remind me never to come back here again," Kari said as she opened the door and walked in with David following. Meanwhile, Kit, Lance, and Gwen just jumped off the last ride. They shook the water out of their hair as they walked ahead. "Well, the Cradle of Doom just became my *least* favorite ride," Gwen said, wringing her hair. "Ditto, sis. I think we're almost done. If we're not, then we *should* be," Lance said. They walked ahead and saw a large building. Kit looked at the sign next to the building and read out loud, "'Labyrinth of Mirrors.'" Then they heard Mad Kat laughing. They looked around, then saw him sitting on the roof of the building. "Congratulations, kitties. You've made it to the Labyrinth of Mirrors. If you can find your way out, maybe I'll let you live. If not, you'll be stuck inside forever! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Mad Kat said. "Where are the Swat Kats, you wacko?" Lance asked, growling. "Find me and I'll tell you!" Mad Kat laughed as he disappeared in a puff of orange smoke. They starred at the door leading into the building, then looked at each other. "Come on, guys. We gotta get in there. We gotta find out what happened to everyone," Gwen said as she walked ahead of Lance and Kit. "Hey, wait up!" Kit said as he and Lance followed her inside. Almost everywhere they looked, they saw their reflections. "Holy kats. How are we ever gonna find that guy?" Lance asked as he lead Kit and Gwen along the way. "We could always cheat by blasting through the mirrors," Kit said. "Where's the fun in that?" Gwen looked at herself in a curved mirror that made her look taller and slimmer. "Gwen, we don't have time to admire the trick mirrors. We gotta find our way out of here," Kit said, looking back at her. "So sue me if I like funhouse mirrors. Yet, what's so fun about this place?" Gwen asked herself as she followed behind, still looking at mirrors as she passed by them. When she passed one mirror, she stopped. She looked at it again, and starred. "Hey, this mirror makes me look like Kari," she said, pointing at it. Lance and Kit took a look. "Yet, it's not moving along with you, is it?" Lance asked. The figure on the other side of the mirror knocked on it. She moved her lips, trying to say something. "Let's see here. Stand back, guys," Kit said, putting his glovatrix on. Lance and Gwen did. Kit punched the mirror, making it crack and break apart. Kari and David stepped through the broken mirror. "Fancy meeting you here. You guys all right?" Kari asked. "Yeah, we're just fine. Having trouble finding the way out," Kit said. "Yeah, we've had our share, too. There are doors leading everywhere," David said. "And some guys in knight outfits trying to spear us," Kari added. "We marked the doors we've went through and came out of to save ourselves the trouble." "Well, let's go," Lance said, going through the broken mirror. Chapter 5: The arrows shooting overhead were approaching closer to the Swat Kats. "I hope this works," Quiver said. "That makes four of us, kiddo," T-Bone said. They got their jetpacks ready as the arrows were getting closer. "Ready?" Razor asked while warming his jetpack up. "Ready!" They engaged maximum afterburners, heading up to the top of the building and burning the arrows as they passed. The arrows only scratched them a few times. Then their jet packs started sputtering. "Damn! We're out of fuel!" Venus said. "Deploy grappling cables!" T-Bone called out to the team. They raised their glovatrixes and shot grappling cables that hooked into the ceiling. "Whew! That was close," Quiver said. "How convenient! A door!" Venus said, pointing at a door just below them. Once the floor raised up to the door, they jumped down, opened the door, and went through it. "Remind me to thank Mad Kat for all the *fun* we've had today," T-Bone said, putting his fist in his paw. "Roger. Let's find 'em," Razor said. "No need for finding, Swat Kat! I'm up here!" Mad Kat's voice said. They looked up and saw Mad Kat sitting on top of a large statue of himself. Venus took out her bow and arrow and fired at Mad Kat's hat. Mad Kat disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing the arrow to hit the wall. "Damn it. That was a sure hit!" Venus growled. "Not much of a hit if you asked me. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Mad Kat said, appearing behind Razor. Before Razor could react, Mad Kat hit him in the face with a ball attached to a string. The impact caused him to fall into T-Bone. "Well, that wasn't very nice. Where are your manners?" Quiver asked. "Beats me. I thought *you* had 'em! Ha ha ha ha ha! Doesn't matter. You've failed to save the king and queen, and now, you'll die!" Mad Kat said. He turned his right arm into a scythe and was about to swing it when something zipped over his head and cut off one of the bells on his hat. "Ow! That hurt! Who threw that?!" he asked, looking around. "Mad Kat, prepare for trouble!" a female voice said. "We're back-to-back, so make it double!" a male voice said. "To protect the world from devastation." "To unite all felines within our nation." "To defend the beauty of truth and love." "To extend our reach to the stars above." They stepped into the light, revealing Kari and David. "Prophecy," Kari said. "Fractor," David followed. "Teen Swat Kats blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Then Lance, Gwen, and Kit stepped up behind them and said, "Right!" "The kits!" Venus said. "They're all right!" Quiver said. "And stealing somebody else's lines," Razor said, shaking his head. Fractor caught the boomerang that passed by. "Nice aim," Prophecy said, winking and giving him a thumb's up. "Thanks for making it hit," Fractor returned the gesture. "OK, so I underestimated the little twerps. A mistake I won't make again!" Mad Kat growled, throwing cards at them. They separated. Gwen and Lance flew to the top of the building. Mad Kat continued throwing cards at them. One of the cards sliced a few strands of Gwen's hair. Prophecy whistled to Mad Kat, "Hey, laughing boy! Over here!" Mad Kat focused his attention on her now. He threw four cards at her. She jumped high into the air and threw her daggers at him. The daggers sliced another bell off of his hat, making him put his paws on his head and screaming. "Gotcha!" Prophecy said, landing behind Mad Kat. Mad Kat then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then he reappeared as a ball, bouncing towards her. She ran under him each time until he returned to his regular form. "You're beginning to bug me, kid!" he said. "Kats! When he throws the cards, that's the time to strike him!" Kit called out to the team. "Roger! Venus, shall we?" Quiver asked, grinning at Venus and holding up her throwing stars. Venus pulled the string back on her bow and said, "We shall, Quiver." "Mega ice shards, blast!" Quiver threw the stars as Venus released the bowstring. The stars circled around the burning arrow, creating a deadly combination. Mad Kat threw the cards at the arrow and stars, but when they made contact, the cards were sliced and burned. "No!" Mad Kat screamed as the arrow and stars came at him and sliced the last bell on his hat. "Bitchin'," Kit, Lance, and Gwen managed to say. "Swat Kats-- 2, Mad Kat-- 0," T-Bone said. Mad Kat turned back into Lenny Ringtail and the kat-in-the-box was on the ground next to him. Fractor picked up the box. "This'll make a nice gift for the trash compactor," he said. "The Enforcers will want it, and they don't destroy evidence. I still wanna know how Ringtail got a hold of it again," Razor said. "Well, let's not wonder about that. We still don't know what happened to Callie, Manx, and the kittens of MegaKat City," Venus said. Prophecy was typing on her miniature keyboard on her paw and walked towards the north wall. She then knocked on the wall and put her ear against it. "Prophecy, what are you doing?" Lance asked. "Knocking on wood," she replied. She took out one of her daggers, marked an X on the wall, took a few steps back, and then kicked at that spot on the wall. The wall crumbled, then several kittens scurried out. "She never stops to amaze me," T-Bone said as he and the rest of the team went over to the hole in the wall. Callie and Mayor Manx then stepped out. "Thanks, Swat Kats," Callie said. "Yes, indeed. I must say, this place will be closed down right away!" Mayor Manx said. "Well, let's just get out of here and hand Ringtail off to Feral," Kit said. "Let's. I've got a lot of thinking to do about this day," Prophecy said, running her paw through her hair. "Yeah, same here," Fractor said. "Sure, you two go ahead. We'll wrap things up here," Quiver said. "We'll be heading out, too," Lance said as he, Gwen, and Kit followed Fractor and Prophecy out. Razor looked over at Quiver once they were gone. "I have a good feeling about where they're going to go do their thinking, Quiv," he said. "Aye, as do I. What's your point?" Quiver asked. Then she understood and nodded. Chapter 6: The group were back at the garage watching the news with Buster and Ann. "... And thanks to the Swat Kats, our city's youth, Mayor Manx, and Deputy Mayor Briggs have been saved. Lenny Ringtail returns to prison and the kat-in-the-box that turns him into Mad Kat will be safely guarded. As for the park, which has been discovered to be Mad Kat Land, will be torn down as soon as possible. This is Ann Gora, Kats Eye News. Back to you, Tom," Ann said on the TV. Chance grabbed the control and turned it off. "I'm just disappointed that I couldn't get the inside story on the park. But since it turned out so bad, I guess I should be grateful," Ann said. "Yeah. The kids had quite a time there. I don't think they'll be going to any theme park anytime soon," Tigera said. "You never know. They're unpredictable," Buster shrugged. "Well, at least they lost their flaws. David and Kari handled their weapons like pros," Kat said. "Yeah, and Lance and Gwen got the handle of flying. Hey, where are Dave and Kare Bear anyway?" Chance asked. "Oh, they said they wanted to think, so I sent 'em somewhere," Jake said, winking. Meanwhile, Kari was riding her bike up to Jake's favorite thinking spot on the cliff She parked her bike and went up to the tree on the cliff. It was then she noticed David was already there. "What are you doing here?" Kari asked. "Thinking about some stuff. What are *you* doing here?" David asked. "Same reason. Jake suggested I come up here. Don't suppose he told you the same thing?" David nodded. "He set us up. Growl..." Kari then sat down and looked at the scenery. "Well, at least the scenery's cool," she said. "Yup," David said. There was a long pause, then David spoke up. "Some day, huh?" he asked. "Yep. Most interesting amusement park I've ever been to. Doubt I'm ever gonna go to another one again." "Ditto." Kari played with the quarter attached to her necklace while David was rubbing the back of his head. "It's funny," Kari finally said. "About what?" David asked, looking at her. "The way I made things here. Being Swat Kats seem to bring the team closer together. Or maybe it's the danger. I don't know." Kari shrugged. "Yeah. Danger seems to bring people closer together. You think...?" Kari looked at him. "Depends on what *you* think." "Well... I think we're a little more than partners now." "Yeah. And I think maybe we're a little more than friends." "Maybe." The sun began to set, then David stood up. "Well, see ya back at the base, Kare Bear," he said. "Sure. Later, Dave." David walked over to his bike, got on, and rode off. "Really smart, Dave. Just when you're about to tell the girl how you feel, you leave. Real smart," David said to himself. Kari stood up and watched him leave. "Damn it. When am I gonna stop being a wimp and tell the boy how I feel?" she asked herself. She sighed and leaned against the tree as she watched the sun disappear. THE END Treat for the kitties! A song written by David Noble based on the last scene! He's goooooood. ^_~ LET ME KNOW I've felt love's pangs before, but I've never been in longing more than this moment, now we're alone. Love's blows are always sweetened when two heart's thoughts are greeted. Don't keep it a secret any longer. Refrain]Express how you feel if your love is real. Let me know, don't hold it back. My darling, our hatred is over. If you love me, let me know. It hurts too much to bear this alone. We can keep it together. Grant me your gracious favor. Speak to me, because I need your love. Refrain]Express how you feel if your love is real. Let me know, don't hold it back. Don't be afraid, no one will hear. Please don't grieve me so. I can see it in your eyes, don't go. Refrain]Express how you feel if your love is real. Let me know, don't hold it back.