Finality and Creeplings: Part 3 By James L. King Freakaz@Comcast.net Dated 3-30-2002 Rated: R Warning: Violence Legal Department: SWAT Kats, MKC, Etc. ad nauseum are owned and/or copyrighted by Hanna/Barbera. Thanks to both Sage SK and Kristen Sharpe for providing inspiration for part of this fic. Summary: A Temporal loop, an alternate Dimension, Dark Kat's final victory and defeat. Part three of three. Rated R for Violence. Table of contents. Prologue Chapter 1: Escapes Chapter 2: Kats Chapter 3: T-Bone and Razor Chapter 4: Alternate again Epilogue Prologue December 21, 1994 (Alternate Dimension) The Dark SWAT Kats manage to evade patrols of Enforcers on their way back to their Hangar. When they arrive, they find a recorded message from Dark Kat. "Since you have failed me for the last time, I am turning you over to the Enforcers. You are now on your own, SWAT Kats." They look around and find a piece of parchment with words on it. The words glow with an uncanny green glow, and T-Bone reads aloud: "'I am an ally of yours; you will see me in seven month's time. Do not reveal that Calico Briggs was working with Dark Kat. All information regarding Calico Briggs has been erased from your computer system.'" As soon as he is done reading it, the paper starts to grow hot. He puts it down, and it self-incinerates before their eyes. As they prepare to leave the hangar, they hear sirens and know that it's too late. May 13, 1995 (Alternate Dimension) The criminal Chance Furlong wakes up, hearing someone in his cell. "What?" "Be quiet. I am here to rescue thee before thou dost die, Furlong." "What? Who are you?" "An echo from the past, sent to save thy future. When thou next awaken, thou will be in the past of my dimension. 'In Zu!'" The criminal known as T-Bone succumbs to a deep magical sleep. "In Quas Xen!" the voice intones, and a magical replicant of T-Bone appears next to him, also asleep. He picks up the real T-Bone and teleports to a different cell on the cell block. "Who's there?" a voice comes. "Shut up." "T-Bone?" "Not the one you think, but I'm here to save you. 'In Zu!'" The criminal Razor falls asleep. "In Quas Xen!" the mage intones again and picks up the real Razor, leaving the unconscious replicant in his place. Carrying a SWAT Kat over each shoulder, he fumbles for a spellscroll and casts the spell on it. "Vas Rel Ort Tym Por!" A black and silver gate shrieks up from the ground, and he passes through. As soon as he's safely through, he closes the gate to minimize the chances of detection. He finds himself outside Queen Callista's Castle in his own dimension. He walks into the gate, and comes face to face with D'Karian. "Eugene?!" "Yes, old friend. I need thy help." Chapter 1: Escapes "Almost done Mac." Molly is trying to short out a force-field, one that keeps her in her cell. "Hurry up, willya?" "Got it." The field fizzles, but comes back on. "Try the other wire, Mol." "'Try the other wire.' I am trying it!" The force-field shorts out, and Molly leaves her cell. She punches the button next to Mac's cell and frees him. "Now let's kill those SWAT Kats and blow this joint!" "We need weapons to do that." "So let's kill a guard or ten; their puny lasers won't even scratch us." As they approach the one cell that holds a SWAT Kat, they hear a shrieking sound, then silence. The shrieking sound alerts a few guards, and they ambush them. After the guards are dead or dying, they use the guard's laserrifles to cut the SWAT Kat apart in his sleep. They find the other cell and kill that SWAT Kat in the same way. After both of them are dead, the MetalliKats make their way out of the prison, killing guards and various prisoners as they go. * * * March 3, 1238 Eugene, still carrying the Dark SWAT Kats, and flanked by D'Karian, enters Queen Callista's throne room. She is very pregnant, bearing her first kitten. "Why art thou here, Eugene?" He sets the unconscious Kats on the floor and intones, "An Zu!" Both criminal SWAT Kats wake up, look at each other, then their surroundings. Eugene states, "No, my queen, I wish to train these two into the heroes they should have been, but never were. They come from a parallel timeline to this one. In return, I will do what thou dost wish, so long as it will not damage the future." "What are you talking about, and where are we?" Chance growls. "Yeah, where are we?" "Far in the past, in my dimension, not yours. Now be quiet, you are in the presence of royalty." "Eugene, these two may be trouble," D'Karian says. "I know this, and they are my responsibility. Just protect the queen, and I will handle these two." "I will not ask thee to change anything, but I never wish to see thee again, Eugene," Callista finally states after a long silence. "After this, thou never will, my queen. Thou will never see I or my partner in any form, ever again. This I can guarantee." "Queen?" T-Bone asks. "She is Queen Callista, ruler of Megalith City, ancestress of Calico Briggs." Chapter 2: Kats June 20, 1995 (Alternate Dimension) Dark Kat is building several robots, designs that he had invented in the other dimension. He is nearly finished, but needs several parts for it. He raids Pumadyne for the necessary parts, and is about to leave. As he prepares his Fear Ship to leave, two metal forms appear from a building. They level their weapons at him and shout, "Goodbye, Dark Crud!" As he turns, surprised, they open fire, hitting him. They keep unloading their weapons into his body, even as it hits the ground. A pool of black blood appears beneath his corpse. They load the last of the equipment they had been stealing, then the equipment Dark Kat had just stolen. They pick his body up and enter his Fear ship. They take off and fly toward MegaKat bay, where they dump his body, then set the autopilot, which takes them to his volcano lair. They discover the Mega-bots and flier bots and set about the task of finishing them themselves. * * * March 3, 1238 "Why ya havin' us do this?" T-Bone asks. "You two are out of shape from your prison stay. You also have a lot of anger to release." "We ain't puttin up with this, and ya can't keep us from walking away." Both toms drop their swords and try to walk away. Eugene intones 'Kal Ort Flam Grav', and a ring of fire appears around them. They stop and turn toward him. "You can't leave," he says. "You've got a city to protect. I'm going to see to it that you do." "Why would we wanna protect MegaKat City?" Razor asks. "They betrayed us and..." "What about family? Old friends? Those you love and those who still love you?" Eugene replies. He draws a circle in the air, and they see the MetalliKats. They see Enforcer Choppers and Tanks being destroyed by robots, and the TurboKat getting hit by missiles. "That is what will happen if you don't save your MegaKat City," Eugene says as they watch the TurboKat disappear with a flash, and the robots continue rampaging. Razor turns white under his fur and falls to the ground, trying not to retch. "Is that TurboKat us?" T-Bone asks. "No. Those two are who ended your careers as criminals. They survived your missile and were thrown back to their own dimension. They came back and tried to help your City, but got sent back to their own dimension again." "I dunno 'bout you Chance, but I'm gonna try t' save my City. I owe my family that at least," Razor says, standing and picking his sword up. T-Bone stands there for a minute before picking up his sword and walking back over to Eugene. "Before we do anything, just who the hell are you?" "It's a long story, but I'm you, from another dimension." "The same dimension as those good SWAT Kats?" "Yes and no. According to the trails of Time that have been altered, Dark Kat never existed in my dimension, but when my City was nearly destroyed, I stole the PastMaster's Tome of Time and went back to change the past. That simple act did change my MegaKat City, and me, and the SWAT Kats came into being. My Dark Kat travelled Time and Dimension upon his defeat at our paws and corrupted you. I seek to change that." "I'm havin' a hard time believin' that," T-Bone growls. Eugene smiles, and concentrates for a single moment. T-Bone and Razor gasp as they see and hear countless billions of Eugene's in the same spot. "We exist in many dimensions. We have one commonality, something happened that we used a Tome of Time to travel to the past. We are all Chancellor Eugene Furlong." Both toms step back, and Eugene returns to normal, if he could be considered 'normal'. "Now, we're gonna start with the basics, a slash and riposte," Eugene says as the fire ring dissipates. * * * March 10, 1238 "Come on, you have to learn to fight as a team! You can't harm me, so go right ahead and attack, just attack as a team, like ya did as Enforcers!" Eugene is holding a longsword and buckler, easily fending off both criminal SWAT Kats. His movements are quick and smooth, and way faster than either Kat had expected them to be. As Razor swings his sword, Eugene deflects it with his buckler, and punches Razor in the muzzle, sending him flying, then parries T-Bone's attack, causing him to lose his longsword. Then, he ends up flat on his back with Eugene's blade at his throat. "You have to re-learn how to communicate like you did in the Enforcers. You also have to re-learn how to work together as a team." The next day, the two Kats, with over a week of practice under their belts, try again. They move in at the same time, and Eugene smiles, then moves in on T-Bone, deflecting his blows, then disarming him. Razor trips the mage, then swings his blade at the mage's throat, but the mage is no longer on the ground, nor is Razor still standing, having been tripped as Eugene leapt to his feet. T-Bone rushes the mage with his claws, who sidesteps, and lets T-Bone trip over Razor, who is trying to stand back up. As they lay sprawled on the ground, Eugene says, "Good, you are improving, but your anger toward me was your failing, T-Bone. Unchecked anger and hatred are your worst enemies on the battlefield. Keep practicing, but find some way of releasing your anger towards me and each other, or it will kill you when I return you to your dimension." He takes the two to some quarters in the castle and leaves them there. He goes to the quarters he had been given and meets the Queen there. "My Queen." He bows. "What may I do for thee?" "This Sir Razor is different, no? He did not know who I am. Tell me, who is he? Where is he from?" "For each choice made, there lies a different split in time. He made the choice to be evil, instead of good. He was not supposed to be evil." "So, he is not the Sir Razor I love?" "No, my Queen, he is not. He might have been, had he been good originally." "That is all I wished to know, thank thee." She turns to leave, when a sharp sudden pain hits her. Eugene, understanding what is happening, picks her up, and rushes her to her chambers. He teleports out to the village and finds the midwife. "The Queen is near her time, thou must come to the Castle and help her." Chapter 3: T-Bone and Razor "Now, let's see if you're as ready as I think you are." Eugene salutes them with his sword, and they return the salute with theirs. Queen Callista, feeding her newborn tom-kitten, watches from the window in her chambers. Razor leaps into the air, swinging his sword in an arc, while T-Bone rushes the old mage. Eugene parries Razor, then leaps aside as T-Bone tries to ram him. Razor would have taken the tackle, but he leapt to the other side. T-Bone checks himself, and ends up face-first, tripped by the mage, who then has to defend himself against a flurry of blows and parries by Razor. One blow gets through, and strikes Eugene's exposed arm, but the sword glances off, as if it had struck stone. Razor looks shocked, then has to deal with several blows from Eugene, each of which causes Razor to step back from the force. T-Bone swings his sword at and hits Eugene's neck, but once again, the weapon glances off without any trace of injury to the mage. Eugene ducks under T-Bone's next blow and punches him in the ribs. Razor attacks with a flurry of blows, and manages to disarm Eugene, who surrenders with the words, "Very good, very good. You are nearly ready." Eugene and the two SWAT Kats turn their weapons and armor in to a guardsKat, who in turn, gives it to the armourer. Eugene leads the two to his quarters. As they all enter the room, Eugene says, "Sit. Now, tell me, and each other, what changed to turn you bad, what changed to make you hate each other..." "I dunno really," Chance says. "I do know. I was mad. I started hating Feral's guts for what he did. After we teamed up with Dark Kat, it felt like it intensified," Jake starts. "Yeah. It wasn't long that I found I couldn't stand you, and we had been partners and friends for almost a year at that point," Chance replies. "That's when I had it with the attitude you had toward me and...," Jake scowls at Chance, who finishes Jake's sentence. "You attacked me. I just about ripped yer ears off for that." Chance hangs his head. They both stop. Eugene says, "Go on." "I'm... sorry, Jake." Chance looks at Jake, tears forming in his eyes. "S'ok. I was always pushing your buttons. It's my fault I lost my ears," Jake says, tears starting in his eyes. "I ripped 'em off! My fault you lost 'em!" Chance yells. "My claws did the rippin', not yours!" At that, Chance starts crying, "I hurt you. My partner, my best friend, my buddy. I..." Jake start crying too as he says, "I'm sorry for being a bastard toward you. I forgive you and hope you forgive me." The conversation continues until the wee hours of the morning... * * * The next morning, Eugene and the two Dark SWAT Kats enter the throne room, where the Captain of the Guard, in his wife, the Queen's stead, grants them leave of the Castle, and of the kingdom. Eugene replies, "I thank thee and the Queen. May you and she live long and blessed lives." He murmurs a few words in an arcane language, further blessing the couple and their offspring. He and the Dark SWAT Kats leave the bailey, and enter the courtyard, Where Eugene intones the spell, "Vas Rel Tym Por!" A silver gate springs from the ground, and they walk through. * * * September 17, 1999 Eugene leads the two into a Hangar, and they look around at the two TurboKats. Eugene climbs onto one and looks inside. He sees the DragonSword in the gunner's seat, and says, "The other TurboKat is the one made for you." He gets down and, noticing the small crowd, says aloud, "Jake, Chance, come here, all four of you." Both sets eye each other warily as Eugene says, "Meet your other-dimension doubles. Last you met, you were enemies, now, put aside your prejudices, and be friends." "What is all this?" Chance asks, while looking at his alternate dimension double, and around the hangar. "Isaac Hackle built a replica of the TurboKat II. It's the replica I'm giving them. Your original TurboKat was taken and hidden here by Hackle just after your supposed deaths. Now these two," Eugene gestures at the alternate-dimension SWAT Kats, "Are going to rescue that MegaKat City from the MetalliKats, just like you did in your pasts." "Best of luck to ya, T-Bone," Chance says. "Thanks. Y'know, I'm sorry for tryin' t' kill ya like I did, T-Bone." He offers his paw to his double. "Don't mention it, just save your City. That'll be enough repayment." He takes the paw, and they shake. Jake says, "Whatever happens, be the heroes that MegaKat City needs. Above all, your Felina needs someone to love her. It don't matter which of you, but make her feel like she's someone who's truly special." He looks at his partner's wife, who has her paws to her mouth. "Your Felina holds a hurt and hate in her heart, and she needs a couple heroes to take it from her. I can't say anything about your Callie, but look after her, too." "We will. We will, right, buddy?" the alternate Jake replies. "We will." Eugene takes his backpack off, and gives it to the two doubles. "Here's your G-suits and Glovatrixes. Get changed, then I'll work my magics." Turning to the native SWAT Kats he says, "You can return for the TurboKat later, there's things you need to do first. Return to the City, and start helping out in the rebuilding." Chapter 4: Alternate again June 28, 1995 (Alternate Dimension) The MetalliKats get done with the robots, and power the bots up, then get in one that looks like a command 'bot. The entire troop of 'bots and the accompanying flier bots make their way toward MegaKat City. At the edge of the City, an Enforcer patrolcar sees a lumbering metallic form heading towards the City. He pulls out Binoculars and sees the MetalliKats piloting it. Hurriedly, as they target-lock and open fire on his patrolcar, he calls into the radio, "Commander the MetalliKats are back, and they're piloting some kind of robot. Holdon, wait a sec, there are more robots appearing, sir, we're under heav--" The Enforcers scramble everything they have, tanks, troops, jets, choppers, even a couple prototype vehicles. A TurboKat appears as well, and joins in the fray. Just after a flight of Choppers gets destroyed, the Turbokat starts launching missiles. No one notices as a Time Vortex opens, and a second TurboKat screams out. The one TurboKat manages to stop one of the smaller flying robots, but takes a couple missiles, and disappears in the middle of an explosion, as if it had been vaporized. At that, The Enforcers start falling back, attacking only to cover their retreat. The new TurboKat screams between two of the flying bots, getting their attention, and the attention of the Enforcers. All the robots fire at the Turbokat, but just impact a force-field, doing no apparent damage. The TurboKat fires missiles, and destroys one of the fliers that is already smoking from damage. All the remaining Enforcer Jets and Choppers rally around the TurboKat, attacking whenever their pilots can. Tanks and ground troops also start counter-attacking. After a few short minutes, most of the fliers have been destroyed, and one of the large walking robots have been disabled. Mac and Molly, left with only the command 'bot, and a couple fliers, decide to make a break for it, and start retreating. The TurboKat attacks the fliers that are still attacking, hitting each with several scrambler missiles. They shut down, crashing into skyscrapers or the ground. The TurboKat gives chase to the lumbering bot, which turns and fires. After several laser blasts, the force-field can take no more, and shuts down. Another, and warning lights go off. "Razor, arm the missiles, we'll use that speed of heat thing to destroy that last robot!" Razor arms all the remaining missiles, and as T-Bone pushes a lever on his left side, they both eject. Even as their seats clear the TurboKat, they see, almost in slow motion, a metal shield deploy over the cockpit, and four engines extend from the fuselage. The engines light off, and the TurboKat surges forward toward it's mark. A third and fourth laser hit the TurboKat, shearing off a wing and a tailfin, but the jet stays on target, and crashes into the 'bot. The combined explosion of fuel and missiles in the TurboKat, as well as the armed missiles in the 'bot, devastates it, almost completely destroying it. They land their ejektor seats, and walk toward the City, side by side. They are intercepted by Felina Feral, who was in a patrolcar. "Get in, I'm taking you to HQ." "We under arrest?" T-Bone asks. "No, but get in." They get in, and Felina drives off. She stays silent for the duration of the trip to Enforcer HQ. Commander Feral, flanked by reporters, walks up to his niece's car, as she pulls up. "I saw you two come from a Pastmaster Time Vortex as your jet got destroyed. Now tell me, who are you?" "In private, Commander, we'll tell you everything. With these reporters, we won't say a word," T-Bone growls. Epilogue June 28, 1995 (Alternate Dimension) "...and that's what happened, Commander," Razor says. Felina looks on in complete shock, Callie stands there with a mixture of dumbfoundedness and awe, and Feral simply looks at them gruffly. "I suppose I should thank you for saving the City, but you two did escape from prison." he says, after some time. "That's where we belong, Commander. We are still the bad guys, remember?" Razor states. "You were found dead in prison. How would it look if I threw you two in prison, eh? The reporters are already calling you two 'time travellers from another dimension'! I throw you in prison where you belong and they'll jump all over me and the Enforcers!" "I can't tell you how to do your job, Feral, but that is where we belong." T-Bone says. "I have a better idea..." Feral growls. * * * A silver portal opens in front of Isaac Hackle's house, and a Kat walks through. Hackle walks to the door, wondering at the Kat who had just appeared. "Hello, how may I help you?" "Isaac. Turn off the computers and power down everything. I've come to take you home." "I am home. Who are you?" "No, you're not home. Home is where out Hangar is. That's in another dimension's MegaKat Salvage yard." "What are you talking about?" "You still have the amnesia. The spell I cast on you." Eugene shakes his head, then incants, "Hear the words of my rhyme, restore his memories, of all his time!" "GAAAH!!!" Hackle clutches his head and falls to his knees as the magical power envelops him. "You remember now?" "Yes, Chance." Hackle's breathing is labored, as he is still reeling from the shock of regaining all of his memories. "Turn everything off, and let's go." A short time later, after all computer records had been erased, and the entire compound had been powered down, Hackle follows Eugene through a time and dimension gate. They enter the gate, and it closes. He finds himself in the Salvage yard. Eugene takes his robe off, revealing a red and blue G-Suit. He gives Hackle a pack, containing a similar G-suit. "Put this on, quickly!" As Hackle changes, Eugene puts on a mask, helmet and glovatrix. When Hackle is almost done changing, the hear two jets approach. One lands in an underground Hangar, the other, on the other side of the cars. The smaller of the two pilots runs into the garage, only to get knocked over by the larger one. "T-Bone, no!" the smaller one cries as the other casts a spell. He scrambles to his feet and tackles the larger one. The both lift off the ground, into the Vortex in the sky. They both come out from their hiding place, and the Kat says, "Put your cane and other clothes in this bag." He invokes a spell, "Hear the Spell of this Mage, return the both of us to our real age!" They look at each other, and old injuries disappear, the agedness on both of them lifts, scars disappear. Eugene smiles broadly as he finds he can see though both eyes again. He casts a spell of sleep on his partner, then incants, "Hear the ring of my spell's rhyme, remove his memory of Professor Hackle, both times!" He then casts a spell on himself to make himself forget his time as Eugene when he next awakens. He ties his staff to the bag, then casts a spell, and it disappears with a flash. He then casts sleep on himself from a pre-enchanted scroll, and falls to the ground. The Tome of Time slips from his paw. Razor is the first to awaken. "Crud." He sees T-Bone also unconscious, and the Tome of Time nearby, on the ground. Quickly he picks the Tome up, and starts to walk away from T-Bone when T-Bone wakes up. Razor says angrily, "Who can't trust who with this, eh?" Setting the Tome down near a wrecked car, he aims his glovatrix at it, then fires mini-megatons, destroying the book. He stalks off, and T-Bone hears jet engines spin up, and sees Razor take off, circle, and land in the Hangar. He goes inside, and down to the Hangar. He starts changing, and tries to talk to Razor. "Razor, I..." "T-Bone, I'm too mad at..." The Alarm goes off for the second time that day. "We're here, Callie." T-Bone says, half-changed out of his G-suit. "SWAT Kats, one of Dark Kat's ships has been sighted!" "We're heading out!" Razor exclaims while putting his mask back on. They both leap into the TurboKat II, and take off. Razor activates the targeting systems. T-Bone throttles right to redline, and the TurboKat II surges forward. The Dark Kat's ship is flying quite erratically, and nowhere near top speed. "Locking on Megavolt missiles. Scrambler missiles standing by." "Activating force-field and radar cloak. Ready when you are, bud." "Roger. Firing!" The scramblers lance out, and instead of striking a force-field, they strike the metal hull of the ship. "Uh, oh. It looks like something of Dark Kat's will actually hit Enforcer HQ." T-Bone remarks as the ship starts plummeting. It flies out of control, barely missing two skyscrapers, and heads right toward Enforcer HQ. It hits the runway and skids across, hitting two Enforcer Choppers. The choppers explode, as does the Fear Ship. T-Bone puts the TurboKat II in Hover Mode over the burning wreckages. "Deploying foam bomb!" Razor says as he does so. After a minute, T-Bone starts the VTOL landing sequence, "Looks like the fire's almost out, I'm setting down." As the Turbokat II sets down, Feral and a dozen Enforcers run out. "You two hotshots!" "Pipe down, Commander! We put the fire out! Now let's find out if it's really Dark Kat!" They search the wreckage after it had cooled, and found the shredded metal bodies of the MetalliKats. "Well, it looks like we recovered them," Razor says. "Are ya gonna give 'em back to the Professor?" T-Bone asks Commander Feral, point blank. "No." Feral turns to two Enforcers, "Take them to the most secure evidence locker we have!" "Sir, yes, sir!" "Get out of here before I arrest you on charges of vandalism, SWAT Kats!" "Roger, Commander. Let's go, Razor." "Yeah. Let's go home. But, I'm gonna go using the Cyclotron." "Still mad at me?" "Yes. We can talk about it when I've calmed down." "Ok, buddy." * * * 7:00 PM, June 28, 1995 (Alternate Dimension) "This is Ann Gora, Kat's Eye News. Today, after a failed attempt to destroy the City, The MetalliKats were stopped by the SWAT Kats. Not the criminal SWAT Kats you and I know as T-Bone and Razor, but their doubles, apparently from another dimension. These other SWAT Kats single-handedly destroyed almost all of the Metallikat's robots. Here's what Commander Feral has to say about these two new heroes." "These two other-dimensional SWAT Kats saved our city, and as their native counterparts are dead, I forgive their debt to the City and society, their criminal records will be wiped clean. They are to be instated in the Enforcers as a Special Weapons and Tactics team and take on the identities of the native SWAT Kats. May their native doubles rest in peace." "In other news, MetalliKat creator, Professor Isaac Alfred Hackle has turned up missing. We attempted to contact him after today's attack by the MetalliKats, but when we got to his house, we found it deserted. There were no signs of a struggle, and the house was open. Upon investigating, the Enforcers found no evidence of where he had gone. This is what Lieutenant Commander Steele had to say." "We investigated the compound and found quite a bit of advanced technology. We searched his computer records, and searched for a journal of some kind, but could not find any information on his whereabouts. It seems that he has completely disappeared from the face of the planet."