CHAPTER 16: RICOCHET MEETS QUIVER AUTHORS:KATARINA FURLONG AND FELICIA EMAIL:RICOCHET8@HOTMAIL.COM MANY MANY THANKS TO KATARINA FURLONG!!! WITHOUT HER HELP THIS CHAPTER COULD NEVER BE DONE!!!!! In an alternate dimension, Jake and Katarina Clawson were taking a stroll in MegaKat Park. "Been pretty quiet around here lately," Katarina said in a light Scottish accent. "Yeah, you'd think all the bad guys were dead or something," Jake said, taking a flower out of a tree and putting it in Katarina's long jet-black hair. "Not that I don't mind spending time with you when our lives aren't in jeopardy." She stared back at him with her emerald green eyes and smiled. "You're right. The less trouble from the villains like Jettona, the more time my husband and I spend." Then she kissed him. The sun had gone down and the street lamps came to life. "Guess we better head back before Chance and the others start to think we're outside the city and in the back of the tow truck," Jake said, leading Katarina back towards the parking lot. "Aye, I suppose so. As much fun as it sounds. Heh heh heh," Katarina smirked. "Katney..." "What?" Jake smiled and winked at her. She purred as they got to the tow truck. Just as they started to get in, Katarina noticed a light blinking in the distance. "That doesn't look right. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's the museum," she said. "Really?" Jake asked, looking in the direction she was looking. Then there was a beeping inside the truck. "Callie's callin'. It must be something big." He got inside and pushed a button on the dashboard. "Razor and Quiver here. What can we do for you, Ms. Briggs?" "T-Bone here. What's the emergency?" another voice on the radio asked. "Swat Kats, Jettona's back and she's at the History Museum, destroying many of the exhibits," Callie Briggs said. "For what reason?" Jake asked. "I'd say she's there to pick a fight with us. We spoiled her plans pretty well last Christmas Eve," T-Bone said. "Whatever she's up to, what matters is she's back. We're on our way, Ms. Briggs," Katarina said, then she pushed the button so Callie Briggs was tuned out. "You able to make it, T-Bone?" Jake asked. "Question is, are *you* guys able to make it?" T-Bone asked. "Consider us there, bro. Kats 2 and 3 out," Katarina said, pushing the button again. "Let's hit it!" both Jake and Katarina said as Jake's tow truck speeded out of the parking lot. At the museum, Jettona broke a glass case that held a golden goblet. She held it up and looked at her reflection. Then it melted in her paws. She chuckled as she watched the melted gold form a puddle on the floor. "Just how I'd like to see the Swat Kats: melted and in a puddle," she said. She picked up another one, only to have something knock it out of her paw. "What the--?!" She looked at the weapon on the floor, which was a Japanese star. She sighed, disgustedly, "Of course. I come along to make trouble, Quiver and the crew comes along and spoils everything." She turned around to be greeted by T-Bone, Razor, and Quiver, three of the six Swat Kats. "Hello, Swat Kats. It's been quite some time since I've tried to destroy you last." "Yeah. Where ya been? Satan ground you?" Quiver asked. Jettona growled and threw a fireball at them. They each separated from each other to avoid the fireball. "She keeps this up, she'll set off the sprinkler system," T-Bone said, holding up a shield to protect him from any more fireballs. "Hmm... Not a bad idea," Quiver said, raising her paw in the air. She spoke a Latin phrase and the sprinkler system began to spray water from the ceiling. Jettona attempted to throw a fireball, but the water had put it out. "You just won't stop until you've made my life more of a nightmare than it already is, will you?!" Jettona yelled, charging at Quiver. "Kat-tai-yah!" Quiver yelled, throwing a star in her direction. Jettona caught the star, only to have it slip out of her paw from the water. "Hey, it's not my fault your father is the devil," Quiver said. "But it's your fault my mother is dead!" The two of them started fighting, until they knocked into a control panel. The panel started to crackle from the water. Suddenly, a portal opened up and started to suck in anything nearby. T-Bone and Razor grabbed onto some poles that were attached to the floor. "Quiver! Get your tail over here!" T-Bone shouted over the force of the wind. Quiver dug her razor-sharp claws into the floor, causing some deep markings and to keep from getting sucked in. "I'm trying, T-Bone!" Jettona was almost pulled into the portal. She saw that Quiver was reaching her paw out to Razor, who was reaching his paw out for hers. "I'm not going in there alone!" Jettona said, shooting a ray at Quiver. It hit her; distracting her enough to lose her grip on the floor and get sucked into the portal with Jettona. "Quiver!" T-Bone and Razor shouted. The portal closed. When it closed, the wind stopped and T-Bone and Razor, who were in mid-air while holding onto the polls, fell to the floor with a thud. Razor panted, "What the heck happened?" "I don't know. But whatever happened, it took your wife and my little sister with it. And I don't know if we can find a way to bring her back," T-Bone said, looking at the damaged control panel. "We better get Boulder and the girls over here then. Maybe they can help in some way." ************************************************************************ At the same time in another alternate dimension, the alarm was going off in the Swat Kats' hangar. T-Bone pushed the button to answer it. "Yes, Ms. Briggs?" "There's some kind of portal opening up in the street in front of the museum. It could be the Pastmaster," Callie Briggs said. "We're on our way." Then he pushed the button again. He turned to Razor and said, "Let's hit it!" Outside the museum, Ricochet was making her rounds when she noticed a portal opening up. "What the heck--?" she asked herself. She heard a noise and went off to see what it was. Then, Quiver and Jettona were thrown out of the portal. Then the portal closed up again. Quiver slowly began to get up and shook her head. "This can't be right. We went through the portal, but we're still in the museum. Actually, we're *outside* of it, but that's close enough," she said. "Who cares where we are? *You're* still here!" Jettona growled, then charged at Quiver. The two advanced and fought. Quiver threw Jettona to the ground, then stepped in a puddle. "Huh? Wait a minute, it wasn't raining today. We're in another dimension." Jettona looked up and saw some phone lines just a few feet from where Quiver stood. She also noticed Quiver's foot in the puddle. She threw a fireball at two of the power lines and waited. "Well, whatever dimension we're in, I can't let you destroy it!" Quiver said. Jettona smiled and looked above Quiver's head. "I don't think so. Because you won't be able to stop me," she said. "And how's that?" Quiver asked just as the power lines broke and landed next to the puddle where her foot was still in. The lines sparked and landed in the water. Quiver got electrocuted and passed out. "Because you'll be dead by the time I get away from you," Jettona said, walking over to her. Her nose twisted when she could still hear her breathing. She took out her sword and raised it above her head. "If I can't destroy you that way, I'll destroy you the old fashioned way." Then she saw the TurboKat soaring overhead. "Crud. Just what I needed." Then she turned to Quiver. "I'll deal with you later." Then she shoved her sword into Quiver's right leg, then pulled it out and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ricochet returned and came out of the shadows just as the TurboKat landed and the Swat Kats stepped out. "Ricochet, what happened here?" Razor asked. "Your guess is about as good as mine. I saw a portal opening up and then left when I heard a noise in the alley," Ricochet explained. T-Bone walked over to Quiver and lifted her up in his arms. "Apparently, you missed a fight then, Ricochet. This she-kat looks fried," he said. Her suit was singed and had a couple burn holes in it. "Well, take her mask off and find out who she is, buddy," Razor said. T-Bone nodded. He reached for her mask and was about to pull it off when a hand grabbed his wrist. "What the--?" Quiver woke up, got out of his arms, and threw him over her shoulder. Then she winced, fell down on bended knee, and put her paw over the wound on her right leg. T-Bone shook his head and got back to his feet. "OK, I'll give you that one, lady," he said. Quiver panted, "Sorry about that. I thought you were someone else. Ah." "Who?" Ricochet asked. "It's none of your concern," Quiver replied, turning to Ricochet. "OK, then, who are you? Or is that also none of our concern?" Razor asked. "Quiver." "And what if we don't feel like quivering?" T-Bone asked. "No, no. My *name* is Quiver." "Ah-ha. And where are you from?" Razor asked. "I'm afraid that's classified." "Okay... Can you tell us whom you were fighting with? Because I'm sure that wound on your leg wasn't a shaving cut," Ricochet said. "I can only tell you her name: Jettona. Where I'm from, she was a nightmare. And I have a feeling that she'll be just as big a nightmare here. I gotta go after her," Quiver said, standing up. Then she shouted and fell back on her left knee. "Looks like you're not going anywhere with that leg," T-Bone said. "No, you think?" Quiver asked sarcastically and rubbed her leg. "We can't take her back to the hangar. She'd spill the beans to the enforcers," Razor said. "I know my way to the hangar anyway, Razor." Razor turned to Quiver. "How do you know my name?" "I know quite a bit about you. I also know who's under that mask. And that goes double for T-Bone. Her, on the other hand, I have no idea who that is." "I'm Ricochet," Ricochet said. "If she really knows who we are," T-Bone said, pulling Razor and Ricochet aside, "we could be in trouble. You saw how she defended herself when I was reaching for her mask. And that leg didn't slow her down until she threw me." "But she dresses like a Swat Kat. Maybe there are Swat Kats somewhere else where she's from," Ricochet said. "Whether she's a Swat Kat or not, she's injured. And I don't trust the hospitals in this area enough. Besides, she's not gonna get far with one good leg," Razor said. "Bringing her to the hangar is the next best thing." "All right, she can come back with us. But if she makes trouble, I'm shipping her tail to Enforcer HQ," T-Bone said. ************************************************************************ Meanwhile in the other dimension, T-Bone and Razor were waiting for the arrival of the other Swat Kats. Razor was looking at the wiring in the control panel Quiver and Jettona crashed into when they got sucked into the portal. "How's it looking, bro?" T-Bone asked, stopping from his nervous pacing and looking at Razor for a second. "Well, the wires are cut pretty bad. It's so screwed up, it needs a whole new set of wires. I don't even know how it could've caused that portal to open," Razor said, waving some of the smoke out of the way. "What portal that opened?" a voice asked. They turned around to see Boulder, Shera, and Venus, the rest of the Swat Kats. "What's going on, T-Bone?" Venus asked, coming over to T-Bone. T-Bone wrapped his arm around her waist. "Quiver got pulled into a portal with your sister and the machine that caused it is scraped," he said. "Quiver's gone?" Shera asked. "Well, can you bring her back?" Boulder asked. Razor pulled on some rubber gloves and goggles and said, "I'll do the best I can, Boulder. But from the way this wiring is looking, the chances of getting her back are looking pretty slim." Then he started working on the wiring. ************************************************************************ Back in the other dimension, Quiver was lying back on a cot in the Swat Kats' hangar while Razor was wrapping bandages around her leg. She was trying to see his face, but he had it facing the other direction. "Blushing, Razor?" she asked, smirking. He looked at her with an annoyed look. "That, and I'm already seeing someone and I don't want to feel like I'm betrayer her," he replied, tying the bandage on her leg. "Let me take a wild guess: that Ricochet person." Razor glared at her and kept silent. "Sheesh, relax. It's not like I'm making a move on you. I'm married, thank you very much." "Good. Looks like your leg got stabbed with a sword, so it was kind of deep. But it didn't break anything." He got up and was ready to leave the room. "Hope you don't mind sleeping in the hangar. We don't have any spare rooms upstairs." "I'm used to it," Quiver replied, rubbing her leg. "Come again?" "Nothing." Razor shook his head and left. As soon as he left, Quiver sighed. She took off the glove on her right paw and looked at the ring on it. She took it off and looked at the inscription on the inside. " 'To a hundred years. Love Jake.' No matter if we're in separated dimensions, I'll always love you, Jake." She put the ring in her palm, clutched it in her paws, and held them close to her heart. Later that night, when everybody was asleep, the communicator next to Chance's bed stand started beeping. Chance groaned and picked it up. "Ms. Briggs, it's the middle of the night. Are you all right?" he asked, yawing softly. "There's a fire over at City Hall and I was working overtime. And I'm still trapped inside! I don't know how long--!" Callie's call ended with static. "Ms. Briggs? Ms. Briggs! Crud. Better go after her myself." Later, he had arrived at City Hall. The fire had not spread to the outside yet. T-Bone got off the Cyclotron and rushed inside. He reached Deputy Mayor Briggs' office, only to find Callie wasn't there. "Ms. Briggs?" he asked, looking around. Then he heard a dark chuckle somewhere in the room. He moved in further into the room, then he looked at the empty chair at her desk. The office door slammed shut. T-Bone spun around to find Jettona's paw on the door. Then she locked it. "I don't believe we've been introduced," T-Bone said. "I am Jettona." "Jettona... Jettona... Oh, yeah. Quiver mentioned you." "Quiver? Grr... It's about time I had her heart in my paw. But first, I'll start with the people she cares for. And, where we're from, you'd be one of them." "Where's Briggs?" T-Bone asked, backing away from Jettona as she pulled her sword out. "At home. There was no fire." In Callie's voice, she said, "You're just too easy to fool." They fought and after several minutes, T-Bone fell in a bloody heap. Just before Jettona left, T-Bone shot a gun and got a transmitter on her. Then he pushed a button that alerted Callie's communicator. Then he passed out. A few hours later, the alarm down in the hangar went off, waking both Jake and Quiver. Jake came down and answered it. "What's the emergency, Ms. Briggs?" he asked. Quiver came out, leaning on the wall and hopped over to Jake and the radio. "Razor, I need you to come down to MegaKat Memorial Hospital right away," Callie said. "But I don't know where T-Bone is." "I'll tell you where he is: he's at the hospital." ************************************************************************ After the doctors were done working on T-Bone, he was wheeled into one of the hospital rooms in a coma. Callie told the doctors if anyone took off his mask, she would have his job. Razor, Quiver, Ricochet, and her brother Jenson climbed in through one of the hospital windows into T-Bone's room. Quiver grabbed onto her leg and sat down in a chair next to T-Bone's bedside. "Leg still bothering you?" Ricochet asked. She clenched her teeth and suddenly, her leg healed. "Wow, how did you--?" Jenson asked. "Classified," Quiver said. Razor looked down at his partner all wrapped up in bandages and an arm cast sadly. "Who did this?" he asked. "My guess is Jettona. She's not after T-Bone; it's me she wants. After what I've done to her, it's no wonder," Quiver said. "Just... What *did* you do to her?" Razor asked, getting up and walking towards her. "I can't tell you." "Tell me!" "No, Razor!" Razor extended his claws and swiped them on her right cheek. She put her paw on her cheek as the blood came out. "Don't think I'm not used to that. Hurting me isn't gonna find Jettona," she said. "She's right, Razor. Let's go out and find her," Ricochet said, rubbing Razor's shoulders. "But where do we start?" Razor asked, voice halfway breaking. Quiver's ears perked up and she looked at the door. "Hide. Someone's coming!" "What are you--?" Razor began, then got pulled by the sleeve by Quiver. They all hid as the door was being opened. Razor's eyes opened in amazement and he whispered, "How'd you do that?" "I have good ears," Quiver replied, smirking. Callie Briggs appeared from behind the door and walked over to T-Bone's bedside. They each silently sighed in relief. "It's just the Deputy Mayor," Jenson said, coming out of hiding. Razor and the others also came out. Callie turned around a little shocked, and sighed. "Razor, Ricochet, Jenson. I'm glad you made it. And who's this?" she asked, looking at Quiver. "This is Quiver. She's new in the area and she knows a lot about the one who hurt T-Bone. Unfortunately, she won't tell us anything about her except her name," Razor replied, glaring over at her. "Shut up before I cut your tongue out, Razor. And I can do it, too." She put her paw on her bleeding cheek again and winced. "Besides, you gave me enough pain for this early morning." "You almost sound like you're married," Jenson said. He has no idea, Quiver thought. Quiver hissed at Razor. "One of these days, Quiver..." "Ha!" "All right, Ralph and Alice, back to business. Ms. Briggs, was T-Bone able to tell you any information? Or was he out the whole trip over here?" Ricochet asked. "Actually, he muttered something to me. He said something about someone named Jettona and a transmitter," Callie said, putting her index finger to her chin. "T-Bone managed to get a transmitter on Jettona," Quiver said. "I could've told you that, Quiver. Thank you very much," Razor said, holding up his glovatrix and looking at the mini scanner. She was tempted to slap him, but she kept herself from doing it. "Where's she at, Razor?" Ricochet asked. "Looks like the caverns on the other side of town. Any reason why she would go there?" he asked, turning to Quiver. "Best to my knowledge, the most dangers are cave-ins and/or some deep, dark holes," Quiver replied. "All right. Ms. Briggs, you stay here and keep an eye on T-Bone. Ricochet and Jenson, you're coming with me to help me out with Jettona." "And what about me?" "You're going back to the hangar. I'm not going to risk getting anyone else hurt." "Razor, it's me Jettona wants in case you've forgotten. I know how to fight her." Razor gave her a scornful look. Quiver returned it. Razor gave her a small smile. "Touché. All right, you can come. But cause any trouble--" "Don't get me started." She stared back at him as he turned back to the window and climbed out and smiled. Ricochet caught the smile after Jenson climbed out. "I saw that smile, Quiver," she said, almost growling. "What?" "I know that kind of smile when I see it. Keep your paws off of Razor. He's mine." "Oh, since when did Razor become private property?" Quiver asked, putting her paws on her hips. "Quiver! Ricochet! Come on!" Razor's voice called. They both looked in the direction of the voice then turned back to each other. "Just keep your paws off him. He's been mine since before you set foot in this town," Ricochet said, turning to the window and climbing out. " 'He's been mine since before you set foot in this town.' Ha!" Quiver mocked in an American accent, following them. ************************************************************************ Back in the other dimension, the Swat Kats were pacing while Razor was fixing the machine. "Even if you manage to fix that, Razor, we don't know where or when she was sent to," Shera said, pacing. Razor pulled his paw back from the wires when some sparks came flying out at him. "I know, but we gotta try, Shera," Razor said, putting his goggles back on and resumed working. Then he felt his ring on his right paw. He added softly, "I can't lose her." ************************************************************************ Back in the other dimension, Razor and the others were inside the caverns where Jettona was supposed to be in. Then they came to a long narrow bridge that was over a big, dark hole. Quiver whistled, "That's a bit of a long walk. One false step..." "Don't get me started, Quiver," Jenson said. "We'll have to keep about five feet apart when crossing the bridge," Razor said. "I'll go first. Then, Jenson, you follow me. Then Razor and Quiver," Ricochet said, gently putting her foot on the bridge. Then she looked at Quiver. "And I don't want you to touch him, understand?" Quiver hissed. She-kats, Razor thought. After about five steps each, they were on the bridge. Quiver looked down and said, "Just don't look down, Clawson. Just don't look down." "I'm not; you are," Razor said, stopping in the middle of the bridge and looking back at her. "I wasn't talking to you, Razor," she replied, stopping. Ricochet and Jenson had reached the other side of the bridge. "You said Clawson." "Doesn't mean I was talking to you." "What?!" "Razor! Quiver! Get your tails over here!" Jenson shouted. The voice echoed and caused some of the spikes on the ceiling to fall down. One of the spikes got stuck in the bridge, right where Razor and Quiver were at. Then, the bridge started to crack. "Uh, Razor, this isn't a good place to stop and stand!" Quiver said. Then, the part of the bridge they were on broke away. They quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bridge. Quiver looked down and said, "Hate to think how deep that is." "Just don't think about the landing right now. Think about falling!" Razor said as his piece of bridge started to crack off. His piece broke off. Quiver, reacting quickly, grabbed onto his paw. "Razor!" Ricochet shouted. "I got him, Ricochet!" Quiver called to her. "Yeah, but whose got you?" Razor asked as Quiver's piece of bridge cracked off. "Razor!" Both Razor and Quiver fell down into the hole. Quiver lost her grip on Razor. Razor smacked into the sides of the walls, knocking him out. Quiver grabbed onto him again and pulled the parachute cord. The parachute came out, and they started to drift back to the ground. Just as they were about twenty feet from the ground, the parachute got caught on a rock and ripped. They fell to the ground and both got knocked out. Back on top, Ricochet looked down into the hole, only to see total darkness. "Oh, no. I can't see them," she said. "Don't worry, sis. They can make it. Come on, let's find this Jettona person." ********************************************************************* A while later, Quiver came to. She sat up, took off her helmet and rubbed her head. "Blast, I hate this line of work sometimes." Then she gasped when she saw some blood on her paw where she was rubbing. She looked then at her helmet, now cracked. "Glad I was wearing this. Might've gotten worse." She took her backpack off and wrapped her head up in bandages. "Thank goodness for a thick skull, eh, Razor?" There was no response. She turned her head to see Razor was still out. She walked over to him and checked the damaged. He was bleeding badly on his left arm and right leg. He had several cuts in other places. She looked in her backpack to find she was out of bandages. "Ah, crud, out of bandages. Hmm..." She looked around for something to substitute for bandages. Then she tore off both of her sleeves and wrapped them around Razor's arm and leg. She staggered to her feet, then she lifted him up on her back, holding his paws over her right shoulder. Then she started walking to find a way back to the top. ************************************************************************ Meanwhile, Jenson and Ricochet were walking through one of the larger parts of the caverns. They saw several skeletons as they walked. Each of them had a spike in some part of their bodies. "That had to hurt," Jenson whispered. "Why are we whispering?" Ricochet asked. "I think these guys died because they made too much noise. So let's do our best not to join them." "Roger that." Jettona was watching them with cameras she had installed within the caverns. "At last, I've rid myself of that Swat Kat. Now to get rid of her new friends," she said, pushing a button on the panel in front of her. Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting noise in the caverns. Jenson and Ricochet covered their ears. Ricochet looked up and saw some of the spikes were beginning to break off. "Run!" she shouted, grabbing Jenson by the sleeve. They ran as the spikes began to drop down. They made it to the end of that part of the cavern. They went through the next cavern entrance. When they made it there, rocks and spikes blocked the way that entered. "No turning back now. Let's go," Jenson said, panting. "I hope Razor's OK," Ricochet said as they continued on their way. "I also hope Quiver's behaving herself," she added softly. Jettona's fist slammed on the control panel. "You'd swear they were under covered Swat Kats! Oh, well. I have other aces up my sleeves," she said, chuckling darkly. ************************************************************************ Meanwhile, Quiver was about on her last legs. She leaned against the wall and panted. Carrying Razor was not helping her out very much either. She hoisted Razor up and said, "Keep it together, love." Then her ears twitched. She heard splashing. She went in the direction it came from. Then she found it: an underground lake. She laid Razor against a rock and walked over to the water. She cupped up some water in her paws and drank it. She took her backpack off and took out a ladle. She filled it up with water and walked back over to Razor. She put her paw on the back of his head to hold it up a little bit. She brought the ladle filled with water to his lips and helped him drink it. Razor coughed some of the water out and opened his eyes. "About time you came around. Drink up, you need to rebuild your strength," she said, giving him the ladle. He drank what water was left in it as she went back over to the water and filled up a canteen with water. "I suppose it's you I should thank for us being down here," he said. She took off her mask and then splashed some water onto her face. "I take sarcasm very well." Razor caught the sight of her left eye, which had claw scars on it. "How'd you get those scars?" he asked. "My daughter gave them to me. I looked exactly like her then, except her scars were on her right eye." "You don't look *that* old." She growled at him. Then he noticed her sleeves were gone. Then he looked at his arm and leg, which were wrapped up with her sleeves. "You used your sleeves to bandage my wounds?" "I was out of bandages," she replied, looking back at him. "Thanks." She got back to her feet, leaned back and placed her paws on her lower back, and her back cracked. "That didn't sound good," Razor said. "What did you expect? I had to carry you. If you can walk now, I'd appreciate it." Razor staggered to his feet, and slowly began to walk over to her. Then he lost his balanced and knocked himself and Quiver into the lake. They both came back up at the same time. "I guess I can't walk," Razor said. He and Quiver looked at each other in the eyes. Quiver swam over to him and put her paw on his cheek. She was about to kiss him until it hit her that this was not her Razor. "I-I'm sorry, Razor." She then got out of the water and put her mask back on. Razor climbed out of the water and back on land when he noticed her crying. "Quiver? What's the matter?" "It's so confusing for me here. I might as well tell ya the truth, starting with my name. It's Katarina Furlong." "Furlong?" "Actually, that was my maiden name. It's Clawson now." "Clawson? What's going on?" "I'm not from this dimension." "Say what?" "It's true. So is Jettona. I'm T-Bone's sister and I'm your wife and you and I have a daughter that's being raised by someone else since we're Swat Kats. Oh, where to begin?" "Let's start by telling me what you did to Jettona to make her sore at you." "Well, I was raised in the Dark Ages and raised as a princess to start with. When I was 16, I was queen and became a warlord. One of the villages I destroyed was Jettona's when she was a kitten. I killed her mother and her family and she, in return, killed my best friend Victoria." "That was the name of Ricochet's friend who also got killed. But if you're about 25, and still fighting Jettona, how old is she?" "Over 800 years old. Did I forget to mention that she's a daughter of Satan?" "Yes." "In fact, my first daughter was a daughter of Satan. She's the one who gave me these scars. But we managed to kill her." "Hmm. Sounds like you've had a bad life in the Dark Ages." "Aye. I've been fighting Jettona ever since then, even though I'm mortal and she's not. Time traveling finally brought me to the early 90's when I met you and Chance. But that's another story. Some time after that, I became a Swat Kat and three more were added to it." "Four new Swat Kats? Man, what were we thinking?" "It's different in alternate dimensions. In my dimension, you're an orphan, Ann Gora's a Swat Kat, and you're married. In this one, you have parents, Ann Gora's just an anchor kat, and you're still single." Quiver wrung the water out of her hair and helped Razor back up. "They don't work the same way, Razor." "So I've noticed. Any idea how we're gonna get back up to the top?" "No clue yet. With any luck, we can find a wall that's steep enough for us to climb up." "One problem though. My glovatrix is broken." Quiver chuckled and said, "We don't need it. My claws are strong enough." "No claws are that strong. They break easily on rock." "On others, maybe. But it doesn't work that way for me. Think you can walk a little anyway? My back's a little sore." "I'll try." He wrapped is good arm around her neck and walked along with her with his good leg. And they continued on their way. ************************************************************************ Back in the other universe, Venus was helping Razor with the welding he was doing on the wires. She had her forefinger extended and fires shot out. She also put on a pair of goggles. She stopped welding, took off her goggles, and wiped the bit of sweat from her brow. "We've been at this all night. It doesn't look like it's gonna cooperate with us. It's too stubborn," she said. "Stubborn like Quiver, you mean?" Boulder asked, trying to brighten up the room a little. Razor growled at him. "OK, OK, I take it back. Hey, I care for her, too, you know. Well, we didn't have a kitten together or anything like that, but..." "Skylar. We have to keep trying, Venus. Skylar doesn't need just a father; she needs her mother, too. And I can't just go out and get re-married just to let her have one." "We'll get her back, Razor. Somehow." "Just get back to work, guys. And pray it'll work," T-Bone said. They nodded and returned to work. ************************************************************************ Back with Razor and Quiver in the other universe, Quiver sighed after a long walk. "How about a break?" she asked. "Sure." She carefully helped Razor down and sat down next to him. They both were silent. Quiver was dying to say something to break the silence. "So, uh, you had a daughter with me, huh?" Razor finally asked. "Yeah. Her name's Skylar. She has my eyes and your brain. Heh heh. What if I never get back there? I'll never see her again. Or Razor, T-Bone, Boulder, Shera, Venus. My world, my family." "We'll find a way to get you back. I promise." "I hope you're right." "Me, too." Quiver decided to change the topic. "Um, that Ricochet, is she your...?" "My...?" "Fiancee?" "Oh, no. No, we're not engaged." "She seems like a nice person to marry. Razor, some advice. I fell in love long ago and before he ever said the words, he was killed. If you love her enough, ask her before she's taken away from you forever." Razor looked at the ground, thinking. Quiver cleared her throat. Then her ears twitched. "Razor, can you run?" "Only if my life depended on it," Razor replied, standing up. "It does. Run!" Suddenly, the roof began to cave in. They ran as the rock ceiling collapsed. Just as it looked like they would get away, Quiver tripped and got covered by the rocks. Then the cave in ended. Razor stopped and looked back. "Quiver!" He rushed over to the pile of rocks that covered her. "If you can hear me, call to me!" He heard nothing. "Something tells me that her dimension isn't gonna be happy about this." Then he saw light at the end of the tunnel. He slowly walked forward and peered through the large doorway. The doorway had a small ledge there that was looking over a small science lab. Jettona was looking at one of the control panels' screen where she saw a pile of rocks that held Quiver underneath them. "Now that she's gone for sure this time, I shall tend to her friends whenever they show up," she said to herself. Razor got on his knees and kept low to the ground. He kept low enough not to be seen by Jettona, yet high enough to see what she was doing. Jettona's eye looked up in the direction he was in. "He may not be the Razor I know, but he's close enough." She raised up her paw and a ray of light shined in Razor's eyes. He shouted and fell off the cliff and started rolling on the steep walls until he landed at Jettona's feet. "Watch out for that first step," he said, looking up at her. "Good advice. Welcome to my place. Now get ready to leave it." She fired fireballs at him, only to have him dodge and hide behind the machinery. "Man, I could really use T-Bone and Ricochet right about now." ************************************************************************ Back in the other dimension, Razor wiped the brow off his brow and sighed. "Well, guys, I think we got it to work," he said, smiling. "Great. But who's going to test it out?" Shera asked. "She's my wife, so I'm going," Razor said. "I'm not going to lose my little sister. Count me in," T-Bone said, stepping up. "If Jettona's involved, count on me to give my sister a beating if she's done anything to Quiver," Venus said. "Well, I'm staying behind to operate the machine when you want to come back," Boulder said. "And I'm staying with him," Shera said. She cracked her knuckles and looked at the control panel. Razor showed which buttons should bring them there and which buttons would bring them back. "But how will they know when we want to come back?" Venus asked. "Quiver fixed our communicators to work in separate dimensions. Now's a good time to test them," Razor replied, referring to his watch on his wrist. "OK, then. Keep your fingers crosses, guys," Shera said, pushing the buttons on the control panel. Suddenly, a portal opened up. "Good luck!" Boulder and Shera both said as T-Bone, Razor, and Venus stepped into the portal. After they had stepped in, the portal closed up again. ************************************************************************ Just as Ricochet and Jenson were ready to take a break, a portal opened up in front of them. They took out their guns and aimed at the portal. "What is this thing?" Jenson asked. "Don't know, but be prepared for anything that comes out of it," Ricochet replied, cocking her gun. Then T-Bone, Razor, and Venus fell out of the portal and landed at Ricochet's and Jenson's feet. Venus looked up. They both still had their guns pointing at them. "Well, isn't this a nice 'Hello, welcome to our dimension'?" she asked herself. "T-Bone? But-- you were in the hospital. Jettona beat you up real bad. Razor, you're OK?" Ricochet as she and Jenson helped them up. "You have us mistaken for someone else in this dimension. We're just here to find my sister," T-Bone said. "Your sister?" Jenson asked. "They can't be talking about Quiver, can they?" Ricochet asked him. "You've seen her? Is she all right? Where is she?" Razor asked, putting his paws on Ricochet's shoulders. "Razor, calm down. Forgive him, he's been a little crazy since his wife got sucked into that portal with my sister Jettona," Venus said. "Jettona's *your* sister?" Jenson asked. "And Quiver's... *Your* wife? I'm gonna *kill* you!" Ricochet growled at Razor. "Whoa-whoa-whoa, kiddo! This is not your Razor. Different dimensions, remember? Sheesh, she reminds me of Quiver," Venus said. "No wonder she's had her eye on my Razor. She's married to him. Jenson, catch me before I faint." "I think introductions are in order. First off, I'm Jenson and this is my sister Ricochet," Jenson said, holding up Ricochet before she could faint. "I'm Venus, and, apparently, you know T-Bone and Razor. Now, as Razor was asking a little while ago, is Quiver all right and where is she?" Venus asked. "To be truthful, we don't know where she is or how she is. When we came into these caverns, she and Razor fell off a bridge and we haven't heard from either of them since," Ricochet said. "Oh, man. I hope she's OK. I can't lose her again," T-Bone said, putting his paw on his forehead. Then some light danced across Venus's eyes. "I know that kind of flash anywhere. Baby sister has company!" Venus said, grabbing T-Bone by the arm and leading the others down the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, Jettona was trying to aim her gun at Razor, who was jumping around to avoid it. He grunted when he twisted his ankle. "Ah, crud, not now!" he said to himself, gritting his teeth. "Time to end our little game, Razor. Even if you're not the Razor from my dimension, you die now," Jettona said, raising her gun up. "Oh, no, you don't!" a voice shouted. Then a fireball melted the gun in her paws. Jettona hissed and looked around. She sighed, digustedly, "Venus. I should've know you'd find some way into this dimension. Show yourself and whatever Swat Kats you've brought with you!" "If you insist. Yah!" Suddenly, Venus knocked Jettona down and started to wrestle with her. While Venus was distracting Jettona, the others went over to help Razor. "Razor! Are you OK?" Ricochet asked, hugging and kissing Razor. "After seeing you and Quiver kiss, that looks pretty weird to me," T-Bone said to the other Razor. "Hw do you think *I* feel?" Razor asked. "Anyway, where's Quiver?" "I'm sorry. There was a cave-in and... She didn't respond," the other Razor said, hugging Ricochet. "Good riddance, I say!" Jettona said, throwing Venus off of her. "We'll get you for this, Jettona!" both Razors shouted and ran over to Jettona. Jettona threw fireballs at them, slamming them both into the wall. "Say good-bye to your little girlfriend, Razor!" Jettona said, pointing her gun at Ricochet. "No!" one of the Razors shouted. "Kat-tai-yah!" a voice shouted. Then, something knocked over Jettona and picked up Ricochet in the air. "What the heck?" T-Bone asked. He looked up and smiled. "Quiver!" Quiver's rope that she tied to the top of the cavern brought her and Ricochet up to a high cliff. She fell to her knees and panted. "If I get a cuccussion, so help me, Jettona, I'll--!" "Quiver?" Ricochet asked. "You were expecting Tarzan? Anyway, stay put while we take care of Jettona." She swung back down on the rope to be greated by the other Swat Kats. "Quiver, you're all right!" Venus said. "Somewhat. We'll have a time for hugs after we take care of Jettona." Jettona grunted as she got back to her feet. "Who did that?!" Then she saw Quiver. "YOU! How many times do I have to kill you to make you stay dead?!" "Do not bother me, Jettona. I am not well. Do not force me to use *extreme* force," Quiver said, holding up her index finger into the air. "Oh, really? And when do I do what you want?" Jettona asked. She took out her sword and charged at Quiver. "Kat-tai-yah!" Quiver said, backflipping and kicking Jettona in the face. It sent Jettona backward and she fell onto her back. Quiver panted, and put her paws on her head. "Crud, I think she's getting a cuccussion," Jenson said. "If she is, Jettona's dead," Venus said. "Not before I'm through with her," one of the Razors said, cracking his knuckles. Jettona got back to her feet and growled. "You've won this time, Swat Kats. But rest assured, I'll be back!" Then she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Quiver fell to the ground as soon as Jettona was gone. "Quiver!" T-Bone shouted, running to her. He bent over and picked her up. "Where's her helmet at?" "It cracked when we fell down that hole," the other Razor said. "Where's her sleeves?" "On my arm and leg." "Her uniform's singed a bit." "Power lines hit her when Jettona cut them." "Aw, man. She's had a rough night." "And that cave-in didn't help her much either," Ricochet said, coming down on the rope. "Yeah, she was buried. I don't know how she could've gotten out," Razor said. "She's stronger than you think. Come on, Quiver. Wake up," the other Razor said, rubbing Quiver's face. She didn't respond. "Don't do this to me. Katney, come on." Ricochet almost felt like crying. The other Razor held her close. T-Bone shook his head sadly. He knelt back down and laid her back down on the ground. "Well, we came all this way only to lose a teammate. Talk about a waste of time," he said, voice close to breaking. Just as they were walking away, Quiver's leg moved upward. She sat up and quietly groaned. She looked ahead at the others moving. "Hey, you guys think I'm dead or are you just leaving me behind?" she asked. One of the Razors looked back and smiled. "Quiver!" He ran over to her, picked her up in his arms, and kissed her. "Don't you ever scare me like that again." "I'll try not too. Just getting electrocuted, falling down a hole, hitting my head a couple of times, and having a pile of rocks dropped on me wears me out a bit," Quiver said. T-Bone and Venus came up to them. "I'm glad you're OK, sis," T-Bone said, brushing some bangs out of her eyes. "Yeah, so am I," Venus said, giving her a high-five. "Quiver, I'm sorry about the way I acted before when you were looking at Razor. I didn't know you were... *Married* to him in another dimension," Ricochet said. "Well, I didn't exactly tell you from the start where I was from. I hope we can be friends now." "Sure. Well, I'm glad everything's OK again," Ricochet said as Razor wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Quiver gave that Razor a look. Razor understood. Razor cleared his throat and turned to Ricochet. "Ricochet... Felicia... Quiver helped me to realize that if I don't ask you now, I may lose you tomorrow. So... Will you marry me?" Ricochet was speechless. She smiled and hugged him. "Of course I will." She looked at Quiver and gave her a thankful look. Quiver winked. "We both have good tastes," she said. "Well, ready to go home?" Razor asked. Quiver nodded. Then she pulled out a communicator and tossed it to the other Razor. "In case you need my help again, use that," she said. Razor nodded and smiled. "OK, Shera. We're ready," T-Bone said into his communicator. Suddenly, a portal opened. They waved good bye and walked into it. "You know, I think I'm actually gonna miss her," Ricochet said. "I know I am," Jenson said. Ricochet lightly slapped him on the shoulder. "She's married, Jenson." "Too bad." "Come on, guys. We got a sick friend and partner to visit," Razor said, leading them out through the tunnel. Suddenly, a diamond ring appeared on Ricochet's finger. Both she and Razor smiled. "That Quiver. Ha. I have a feeling we'll be seeing her again. Soon."