The Venus Series, Part One: T-Bone's Nightmare By Kari Gilmore E-mail: karigilmore@hotmail.com Chapter 1: As T-Bone flew through the air in the TurboKat, he watches the city burn. He could hear different voices and someone's insane cackle echoing in his head. He heard familiar screams. He quickly landed the TurboKat next to one of the burning buildings. There, he found four bodies, bloody and dying. His eyes widened to see that they were the other Swat Kats. "Razor, what happened?" he asked. "Someone... Drugged and captured us. We were connected to the planets and we smashed into Saturn. You're too late to save us, T-Bone. It's your fault," Razor whispered. "He's right. A leader is suppose to protect his followers. You failed miserably," Shera said. "Guys, I-I didn't mean--!" "No matter what you could've done, you never would have saved us," Boulder said. "We had faith in you, T-Bone. But now, I wish you would rot in Hell," Quiver said. Then they each closed their eyes. "Guys! No! Don't leave me! *No-o-o*!" T-Bone fell to his knees and screamed. Chance shot up from his pillow and looked around. He panted as he realized that he was in his room. He looked out the window to find MegaKat City still standing. He got out of bed and put on his housecoat. He opened the door to Jake's room to find him fast asleep in his bed. Then he walked down stairs, past the kitchen and removed a rug. There, was a hatch that he opened and climbed down the ladder. He walked past the lockers and came to his sister, Katarina, sleeping peacefully in her bed. He walked over to her and pulled the blanket over her shoulder. He gently ran his fingers through her long black hair. He crept back to the ladder and climbed back up. He put the rug back over the hatch and walked back up the stairs. As he passed Jake's room, Jake opened the door. "Chance?" he asked, yawning. Chance turned around to see his face. Jake's arm was in a sling because he had injured himself on a mission. "Oh, Jake. Did I wake ya?" "No. I woke myself up. Is something wrong?" Chance turned his eyes away from Jake's face and lied, "It's nothing, bro. Nothing... Important." Then he walked back to his room. Jake stood in the doorway and shook his head. Then he went back into his room and closed the door behind him. Chance sat down on his bed and buried his face in his paws. "You're too late to save us, T-Bone. It's your fault," Razor's voice echoed in his head. "A leader is suppose to protect his followers. You failed miserably," Shera's voice said. "No matter what you could've done, you never would have saved us," Boulder's voice said. "We had faith in you, T-Bone. But now, I wish you would rot in Hell," Quiver's voice said. Chance wiped the tears from his eyes. "I love those guys too much. I can't let this happen," he said to himself. He opened the door to his room and headed down to the kitchen. He took out a pen and paper and sat down at the table. He started writing. He left the note on he table where Jake and Katarina would be sure to find it. Then he went down to the hangar and went to the lockers. He opened one of them and undressed himself. He got dressed in his Swat Kat G-suit, mask, helmet, and glovatrix and packed his clothes and sword into his backpack. He crept past Katarina and headed for one of the TurboKats. He pushed a button on the glovatrix and the Cyclotron came out. He grabbed onto the handlebars and pushed the bike outside. Once outside, he sat down on the seat and looked back at the Salvage Yard. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from it. He revved the engines and took off. Chapter 2: Jake woke up the next morning to Katarina calling his name. He got dressed and rushed down into the hangar to meet her. "Kat, what's wrong?" he asked. "The Cyclotron's gone, and so is T-Bone's G-suit and sword," Kat said. "You don't think he went out to fight a villain without telling us, do you?" "I wouldn't think so. We'll have some milk then we'll go our to look for him." They both climbed up the ladder and entered the kitchen. Kat opened the refrigerator and took out two cans of milk. Jake was holding up a piece of paper when she sat down at the table. "What is it?" she asked. "It's from Chance. He says he's quitting the team. He says we'll never see him again. And he wants me to take care of you and the rest of the team," Jake said. "Why would he do this?" Just then, Buster and Ann walked into the kitchen. "Hey, guys. What's up?" Buster asked. "Chance disappeared is what's up. He wrote a note saying that he quit the team. I suggest that we go look for him," Jake said. "You're second-in-command, Jake. I'll go to Callie's," Ann said. "I'll check his old neighborhood," Kat said. "And I'll check out everything else in the TurboKat," Buster said. "And I'll go with you, Buster. OK, Kats. We meet back in the hangar tonight. If anyone finds him, call me," Jake ordered. "Roger that," the Kats replied. And then they all left. Later, T-Bone had arrived in front of an old apartment building. He got off of the Cyclotron and walked up the steps. He opened the door and closed it behind him. He walked through the hall until he reached A13. He opened the door and walked in. The room was dark and dusty. He flipped on the light switch and the room brightened. He walked to the fireplace and looked above it. There, he found many pictures inside silver frames. He took one off the top of the fireplace. It was a picture of him when he was in his early teens. In his arms, was a little she-kitten. "Angel," he said. His eyes widened and he went into a daydream. Inside his head, he was kneeling down beside the dead Swat Kats. He wiped his eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry, guys. I should've saved you." "T-Bone, your angel of death awaits," a voice behind him said. T-Bone turned his head and saw a blonde-fur she-kat with honey-brown hair in a short red dress. "Who are you?" he asked. "I'm here to relieve you of your pain. The Swat Kats forgive you and they wait for you," the female said, pulling out a knife from behind her back. T-Bone stood up and opened his arms. "Do it." With that, the female drove the knife through his heart. He screamed and collapsed next to the fallen Swat Kats. T-Bone awoke from his daydream with a gasp. He found that he was still holding the picture of him and the she-kitten. Then he checked his chest to find it unharmed. He shoved the picture into his backpack. Just as he was heading for the door, he ran into a familiar figure. "Katarina?" "T-Bone! What are you doing?" Kat asked. "I was collecting some stuff. Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving." T-Bone walked past her, but Kat stayed close behind him. "Would you mind telling why you're quitting the team?" she asked. "It's too horrifying to tell you, Kat. All I can tell you is that dreams could come true. I'm sorry, but I can't stay," T-Bone said, heading for the last door. "Why?" T-Bone opened the door half way, then looked back at her. "Because I love you guys." Then he left. Kat ran after him but she was too late. He had already gotten on the Cyclotron and rode off. She cursed to herself as she stood there, then her watch communicator started beeping. "Kat 3, come in. You there, Kat 3?" Razor's voice asked. Kat raised her wrist close to her mouth and spoke into it. "Kat 3 here. What do you want?" "Have you found any information on T-Bone yet?" "Actually, I had better luck than the rest of you. I found him in his old apartment taking a picture with him. But I'm afraid I lost him now." "Damn it. Well, did you ask why he was quitting?" "Yeah. All he said was something about dreams coming true. He said he couldn't stay because he loves us." "Hmm. Meet us back in the hangar in fifteen minutes. We'll figure out something." Chapter 3: The Kats arrived in the hangar all at once. Ann and Kat both climbed down the ladder and the TurboKat arrived with both Razor and Boulder inside. Kat walked over to her locker and put on her mask and helmet. "So, any ideas about what we're gonna do about finding T-Bone?" Razor asked, jumping out of the TurboKat. "Negative. Kat was the only one who had any luck," Ann said. Kat put on her gloves and took out her spell book. She flipped through the pages and muttered, "Come on, come on, where the hell is it?" "What are ya lookin' for?" Boulder asked. Kat marked her place in the book with her paw. "T-Bone said something about dreams coming true. If we can find out what his dream was about, then we'd know why he quit. Ah, here it is," she said. She spoke in Latin and the room suddenly grew dark. "OK, who forgot to pay the power bill?" Razor asked. Then a fireball the size of a basketball came in between the group. "What the hell is it?" Ann asked. "It's a dream bubble. It shows what a dreamer dreams," Kat said. "Then why does it look like a fireball?" Boulder asked. "How the hell should I know?" Then the fireball started showing pictures. They heard voices saying, "Your angel of death awaits! Your city will burn to the ground! The planets will be the Swat Kats' death! The goddess will be your savior!" They watched all of the things that T-Bone dreamt about. They watched as the Swat Kats in T-Bone's dream die. They watched T-Bone get stabbed by the blonde-fur she-kat. Then the fireball disappeared and the room brightened. "T-Bone was right. It *was* horrifying. He's afraid that the dream will come true," Kat said, now in her G-suit. Ann had just gotten into her G-suit as well. "Well, what are we gonna do? Could all that really come true?" she asked. "I can't say that I know. Hmm, 'The goddess will be your savior.' Well, the goddess did a great job saving him," Quiver muttered to herself. "What goddess? And what did that voice mean when the planets will be our deaths?" Boulder asked. "I said something about crashing into Saturn. The planets are a couple of light-years away from us. There's no way the planets would kill us. As for who the goddess is, I haven't any thought," Razor said. "Oh, we're wasting time. Let's get going and find T-Bone," Quiver said. Just then, the alarm went off. "Oh, of all times for an emergency," Razor sighed, pushing the button on the radio. "Yes, Ms. Briggs?" "Razor, we got big trouble," Callie's voice said. "What's up?" Boulder asked. "Dark Kat's back and he's setting the city on fire! I don't know how much longer I can-- Aah!" Then the radio only picked up static. "Ms. Briggs!" the Kats shouted. "We'll have to look for T-Bone later. We gotta save Callie," Razor said, heading for the TurboKats. Chapter 4: T-Bone was in the middle of the desert. He was trying to keep a fire going. "I wonder what the guys are doing. Probably worried sick about me," he said to himself. He grabbed a rock and threw it into the flames. "Damn it all to Hell! I want to go back, but I can't risk getting them killed." His eyes widened as he went into another dream. "Oh, no. Not this again!" He was knelling down by the bodies of the dead Swat Kats. "T-Bone, your angel of death awaits," the tall thin she-kat said. "I know who you are now. You're my long lost sister, Angel," T-Bone said. "Yes. And I have come to relieve you of your pain," Angel said. "No matter what you do, my pain will never go away. I'll live with it." Angel widened her eyes as T-Bone turned his back to her. Her eyes glowed red and her teeth grew to fangs. "*You will die with them*!" she shrieked, pulling out her knife. T-Bone looked at her, and gasped. She pinned him to the ground. T-Bone grabbed the arm that held the knife. Angel pushed it towards him as he pushed back. Angel was pushing the knife closer to his neck. When the tip of the knife met with his neck and a small trickle of blood appeared, the knife was knocked out of Angel's paws. An arrow stuck to the side of the nearby burning building, holding the knife in place. "What the--?" T-Bone asked. A figure walked out from a wall of fire. In her paws, was a bow. Loaded in the bow was an arrow. She was dressed in a Swat Kat G-suit. She had light brown fur and long white hair. "The next one is for you, Angel," she said. "Who the hell are you?" Angel asked. "The goddess that will be his savior. I am Venus, the Daughter of Satan." "I don't know. Should I be happy to see one of Jettona's sisters?" T-Bone asked himself. Venus pulled the string on the bow and said, "Here's your beloved *sister*, T-Bone!" She released the string and the arrow struck Angel in the back. Suddenly, she began to shrink. T-Bone's eyes widened as he saw the tall thin she-kat turn into a short pink creature. "A creepling!" he said, punching it in the face. Venus stood over him. She extended a paw and T-Bone took it. She helped him back to his feet. "So that *wasn't* my little sister," he said. "Correct. And *this* isn't your team," Venus said, knelling down by the bodies. "What are you talking about?" Venus brushed her paw across Boulder's body, only to go through him as if he was a ghost. "They're holograms?" "Yes. Your Swat Kats are still alive. But this dream *will* become reality if you don't save them. Dark Kat is setting a trap up for them. He's going to use the planets in the science museum to kill them." T-Bone's eyes widened as he realized what that voice meant. " 'The planets will be the Swat Kats' death'. And if they crash into Saturn's rings... Holy kats! How can I get there in time?" "Simple. Wake up!" T-Bone awoke from the dream with a gasp. He found himself in front of the fire in the desert. He felt his neck to find the wound on his neck was gone. "What a dream," he said. "Who says it was a just dream?" a voice from behind him asked. T-Bone turned around to see Venus. "Venus. If you're a Daughter of Satan, then why are you helping me?" "There's no time to explain. Your city is in trouble. Look!" Venus pointed toward the city. T-Bone's eyes widened as he saw flames. "Oh, no. Not this! I can't go through this again!" "T-Bone, your family and friends are in trouble. You must save them!" Meanwhile, the Swat Kats were flying through the burning city. "I wonder if *this* is what Hell is like," Boulder said. "If we don't fly out of the way from that burning building, we'll soon find out!" Quiver shouted. "Huh? Yike!" Boulder quickly maneuvered the TurboKat II away from the burning building. "Oh, nice flying," Razor said over the radio. "You're flying with only one arm. You want the other one broke, too, Razor? You're no T-Bone yourself," Boulder replied. "Touché. But even T-Bone couldn't fly through the city when it's on fire. No matter how good a pilot he is." A minute later at City Hall, Callie Briggs and Mayor Manx were on the fire escape heading down. Suddenly, the ladder broke and they started falling. They fell on top of something solid, big, and black. They looked to see it was one of the TurboKat's wings. "Hey, guys. Need a lift?" Boulder asked, opening the cockpit. "It's about time, you guys. Did I catch you on your lunch hour again?" Callie asked as she and Manx climbed into the seat behind Quiver. "OK, next time the city's on fire, *you* fly the jet and *we* get rescued," Quiver joked. "Ah. Remeind me to arrange a parade after this is over, Callie," Mayor Manx sighed. "You got them?" Shera asked over the radio. "Affirmative. We're gonna land and let them off. We'll be with you guys in a minute or two," Boulder replied. Boulder landed the jet and Quiver jumped out. Callie got on the wing and Quiver helped her down. "Be careful around here. Don't want to get burned, do you?" Callie and Manx thanked her and ran away. "Let's get going, Quiv," Boulder said. Quiver started to climb back onto the wing of the jet when something grabbed onto her foot. "Hey, what the--?!" She looked down to see a small pink creature with some kind of weapon in its paws. It held it against her leg, and pulled the trigger. A green liquid was injected into her bloodstream. Quiver moaned, then fell over. "Quiver!" Boulder jumped out of the jet and kicked the creature into a burning building. Then he felt something jabbed into him. He moaned and then fell next to Quiver. Another of the creatures was holding an identical weapon that was emptied. He took out the emptied cartilage and loaded in a new one. Just then, Razor and Shera landed. The creature ran towards them. "A creepling! Out of the way!" Razor shouted. The creepling started flapping its little bat-like arms and flew towards Shera. It shoved the weapon on her neck and pulled the trigger. She instantly fell to the ground. Razor backed away from the little creepling until he bumped into a tall dark figure. "Well, well. Look what the Swat Kat dragged in," the figure said. He jabbed the weapon into the side of Razor's neck and pulled the trigger. Razor fell to the ground. The figure laughed as he saw the four Swat Kats lying motionless in the street. Chapter 5: Razor finally regained his senses. He shook his head a couple of times to clear it. He was about to rub his head when he discovered that he was tied up. "Razor? Are you all right?" Quiver asked. "I've been better, Quiv. And so has my arm. Where are we?" "We're at the science museum. Dark Kat has us and the rest of the Kats tied up to the Solar System display. As soon as he starts the motors, the planets will start crashing into us. It's Saturn I'm worried about." "Saturn! *That's* what I meant in T-Bone's dream. This is how Dark Kat killed us." "And you're *happy* about this discovery?" Shera asked. "You're one weird kat, Razor," Boulder said. They looked down to see Dark Kat at a control panel. "Well, Dark Crud. I haven't seen you around for awhile. Where did you go: back to the snake hole you crawled out of?" Razor asked. "Cocky to the end, I like that. But no more mistakes, Swat Kat. This *is* the end!" Dark Kat pulled a lever and the planets started moving. "Didn't he already use that line about two years ago?" Quiver asked. "How would *you* know?" Razor asked. "Time traveler." The planets began to pick up speed. Part of the planet the Kats were on crashed into the side of Mars. Part of both planets cracked. "You got any crazy ideas, Razor? We could really use one!" Shera shouted. "I can't think under this kind of pressure!" Razor shouted. Then their planet crashed into Jupiter. "Let's see: My Very Eager Mother Just Served-- Uh-oh!" Quiver said. "Shouldn't the rest be 'Us Nine Pizzas'?" Boulder asked. "I don't think we'll live to see 'Us Nine Pizzas'. Saturn's next!" Quiver shouted. "Prepare yourselves for your last breath!" Dark Kat said, pulling the lever further. The planet the Kats were on was just about to crash into Saturn. "See you on the other side, Kats!" Razor said, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes. Just as they were about to crash into Saturn, their planet rose above Saturn. "What the--?!" Quiver asked. She looked up to see two kats pulling a rope on the katwalk. "Don't let go, Venus!" one said. "I'm trying, T-Bone, but this planet's heavier than I thought!" the second kat replied. "You're a weak goddess, Venus." "T-Bone!" the Kats shouted. "What? We're not dead yet?" Razor asked, opening one eye. "Not yet," Quiver said. T-Bone and Venus continued to pull the planet up when suddenly, they both fell off the katwalk. The planet went up as the two kats went down. When the planet went up to the top of the building, it stopped. The two kats stopped right in front of Saturn. "Uh-oh!" they both said. T-Bone and Venus both closed their eyes as Saturn came close to them. The rope they were on was pulled up as Saturn's rings was upon them. The rings cut the bottom of the ropes. "Whew! That was a close one," T-Bone said. "I wasn't worried. I'm immortal. Though, I *was* worried about you," Venus said. "Gee, Venus, I didn't know you cared." "You're filled with blood. It would get a little messy if the rings sliced you in half. And cleaning blood out of this uniform is very hard." "Yeah, love you, too, Venus." They looked up to see the Kats pulling on the rope. "Are you two OK?" Shera asked. "I'm good," Venus said. "And what about you, T-Bone?" "Great, now that you guys are all right," T-Bone replied. They pulled both back onto the katwalk. "Well, glad to see that you guys are still alive," T-Bone said. "If you were a few seconds late, we wouldn't be. Who's your friend?" Razor asked. "Venus!" Quiver said. "You know her?" "Yeah. She's the eldest Daughter of Satan. She's also the only Daughter who's on the side of good. She's been fighting her father, sisters, and half-sisters since the Dawn of Time. I met her the day I killed Jettona's village." "Yeah. Her mother was evil anyway," Venus said. Suddenly, a ray was shot right in front of T-Bone's feet. "You infernal Swat Kats!" Dark Kat growled. "Kats, grab onto these ropes and swing!" T-Bone said, handing each Kat a piece of rope. They all jumped off the katwalk and swung on the rope. "He-yah!" Quiver yelled. Boulder imitated the famous Tartan yell. "First floor, going down!" Shera shouted, kicking Dark Kat square in the chest. T-Bone, Razor, and Venus landed by the control panel. They looked up at the Sun that was connected to the cracking Solar System. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Venus?" Razor asked. "Oh, yeah. One Sun, sunny-side up, coming up!" Venus said, taking out her bow and an arrow. She pulled the bowstring and launched the arrow at the rope that held the Sun. The Sun landed on the floor and started rolling. "Everykat, take cover!" T-Bone shouted. All the Swat Kats took cover as the Sun rolled toward Dark Kat. "No!" Dark Kat shouted. The Sun crashed right on top of him. "Well, Dark Kat always wanted to be in the center of the universe," T-Bone said. "But the city is still on fire," Shera said. "Yeah, what are we gonna do?" Boulder asked. A minute later, the Kats were on the roof of the science museum. "OK, Razor, Shera. Do it," Quiver said. Shera took out her daggers as Razor took out his whip. "Supreme thunderstorm, crash!" Razor said, cracking his whip. "East winds, blow!" Shera said, twirling the daggers through her fingers. Suddenly, rain and wind came. Within minutes, the fire burned out. Shera and Razor gave each other a high-five. "And let me see if I can fix the buildings," Quiver said, taking out her spell book. She spoke in Latin and the buildings regained their lost parts. "Still got it," she said, blowing on her nails and buffing them on her chest. All eyes turned on T-Bone. "Guys, I think you should know that I was quitting because--" "We know, T-Bone. We saw your dream. You were afraid that it would really happen. That we would get killed. That we would say it was your fault. And that she-kat killed you," Boulder said. "Yeah. I never would've come back if it wasn't for Venus," T-Bone said, putting his paw on Venus's shoulder. "You were the goddess who would be T-Bone's savior," Razor said. Venus nodded. "So, who are you under that mask?" Shera asked. "That mystery will have to wait. It's not quite time for you to know my real identity," Venus said, tying a rope onto an arrow and loading it into her bow. "Where are you going?" T-Bone asked. "Places where mortals cannot go. But I promise, we will meet again soon. Good bye, T-Bone." She released the bowstring and swung off the roof on the rope. "Thanks, Venus!" T-Bone called. Then, the five Swat Kats stood there, unmoving for several moments. Then T-Bone finally said, "Let's go home before Feral comes around and sticks us with another bill." Chapter 6: Chance was standing outside his room onto the balcony that he and Jake share. He looked up at the sky and sighed. "Hey, Chance," Jake said behind him. Chance turned around to see him. "Hey, Jake. Did Kat say anything about getting your arm out of that sling anytime soon?" "Not for a little while longer. I kinda banged it up when we got out of the way of the Sun. You know, out of all the times we've fought Dark Kat, this is the second time we've actually caught him." "Yeah, I guess so." Jake looked at Chance's face. "Is something still bothering you, Bro?" he asked. "Yeah. To see MegaKat City burn or to see you guys die were both my worst nightmares. Now that the city almost burned down and that you guys almost died..." Jake put his paw on Chance's shoulder. "Even Kat and I haven't gotten over our worst nightmares. Like from last year, when Dark Kat shattered my self-confidence. Even though it was a set up, and I may not show it very much, it still bothers me immensely. And Kat is still bothered about what happened last week, same even though she was also set up. But the thought of losing you scares both of us more." Chance nodded. "It'll take some time for the wounds to heal, believe me. They'll heal, but they will still leave behind scars." Chance wiped his eye and turned back around. Jake started to walk back to his room, then stopped. "And, Chance?" "Yeah, Jake?" Chance asked, turning around. "We love you, too." Chance smiled and walked up to Jake. "C'mon, Little Brother. Let's have some milk and go to bed." Then they both left the balcony, and shut the door behind them. THE END... FOR NOW OK, Story Six is done! Hooray! I thought I'd never get this one done. This story was inspired by a "TMNT" episode, "Take Me To Your Leader" in which Leonardo has a dream where he thinks he'll let the team down and runs away. Sounds familiar? Questions? Comments? E-mail me: karigilmore@hotmail.com. Ciao, Kat Fans!