The Past is Behind Us
Author - Modad
Rating - T
Email - mfiske6@yahoo.com
Warnings: Violence
Disclaimer: SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron," its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.

Author's Note: Okay, here is yet another story from me. Think of it as a super short, like "Cry Turmoil," or "Swat Kats Unplugged." If you really like the potential of this story and e-mail me at mfiske42@juno.com, then I might
be able to turn it into a series. Expect the story to end abruptly, and it's not a mistake or a "to be continued," at least not yet. But, it's sort of a window or pathway into what the Swat Kats might do. So sit back and relax, and get ready for a super short that might intrigue you.

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Megakat City. A bustling movement of katkind. Some say it is the crime capitol of the world, and it might be just that. Throughout the years it has been a constant target of evil and wrongdoings. Although, throughout it all, nuclear threats, biological weapons, and even alien conflicts have failed to destroy this city. It is mainly to the Swat Kats' credit of course with some minute assistance from the Enforcers. But now, even with all their experience and technology they might not be able to stop the growing threat of things to come.

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The sky shone a blazing red as the sun began to set over Megakat City. Mayor Manx was preparing to call it a day as he began to make his way out of City Hall. 'Why? he thought.' Why did all the world seem to hate MKC? Recently, the city had been under the threat of ZED. 'Is it that easy for someone or something to bring my great city to its knees?' Manx dismissed the thought as his limo rounded the corner in front of the building.

"I've been too careless," Manx said out loud. "First thing tomorrow I've got to think of something that can save this city's image."

'And,' thought Manx, 'my chances of reelection.'

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"Hey Chance!" said Jake, poking his head out form under the hood of a car. "Can you hand me a seven eighths?"

"Yeah, just a sec," replied Chance, as he made his way over to the toolbox.

Suddenly, a massive tremor hit the garage, spilling tools and other items all over the place. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped as Chance and Jake got up onto their feet after they had fallen over.

"What was that?" asked Chance.

"My guess would be an earthquake," said Jake, as he made his way outside into the salvage yard. "Come look at this!" yelled Jake, pointing towards the city.

"Well look who's back from the dead once again," Chance said with disgust.

Out in the distance a large circular portal had appeared over the city limits causing a violent storm to form. All the traits of the Pastmaster.

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At Enforcer Headquarters, Commander Feral was just about to make his way home when he felt the huge tremor hit the building. Temporarily knocked off his feet by this, he cursed out loud. Then he soon realized that his little fall was the least of his problems as he looked out a nearby window that revealed a large circular portal forming in the sky.

Wasting no time, he pulled out his cell phone.

"This is Feral," he said into the cellular. "I want a squadron in the air battle ready. Also, get my jet ready too. I want to personally deal with whatever that is up there."

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As jet after jet made its way off the Enforcer runway, another group of fighter pilots made their way down to their jet. Jake and Chance hadn't wasted any time either as they quickly changed into their Swat Kat flight suits.

"I don't know if the Turbokat is combat ready or not," said Jake quickly as they made their way into their respective seats.

"She's gonna have to hold together," Chance replied while flipping switches and powering up the engines.

Since their last encounter with ZED, they hadn't had enough time to fully repair the Turbokat due to the fact that Enforcer inspectors were due to look on how much they had accomplished on the salvage yard. Bullet holes and scorched paint shone all over the body of the powerful jet.

"At least I had time to upgrade the weapons load," said Razor with a sly grin.

T-Bone didn't reply as he yanked the throttle to full power, sending them flying off in the direction of the city.

Soon they were under where the gigantic portal had formed. T-bone set the engines into the VTOL mode and began hovering, waiting for something to happen. Finally, something happened.

The Pastmaster, as expected, made his way out of the portal riding some sort of flying creature that looked like some kind of serpent with arms and legs. T-Bone quickly put the jet back in gear and went rocketing in pursuit of the creature.

"I've finally assessed the full damage of the Turbokat," said Razor looking at his console. "All high power systems like the mega-laser have been disabled, the heat shield is jammed up and the mega-thrusters are pretty much shot, so we can't go to speed of heat or sub-orbital mode."

"Well, at least Pasty doesn't seem interested in going into space," T-Bone said, frowning as the creature made its way towards City Hall.

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'I will restore Megalith City,' thought the Pastmaster as he landed on the rooftop of City Hall. "I shall be victorious!" he yelled at the top of his voice. He then began to raise his watch towards the sky. Lightning flashed and thunder
crackled as the portal began to grow larger as if to consume the city.

"Razor, you got a target lock yet?" said T-Bone, maneuvering the jet to avoid the lightning bolts.

"Give me a few more seconds," said Razor, as he adjusted the crosshairs on his screen to target the Pastmaster. The target glowed red indicating a lock. "Locked on, Octopus Missile deploy!" he said, as he depressed a button on his console.

A black and red missile shot out from the Turbokat towards its intended target. It opened up to reveal 8 tentacle like arms. Amazingly, the Pastmaster was caught off guard as the missile proceeded to enclose him in its tentacles.

"Yes!" shouted T-Bone as the missile captured its prey. He put the Turbokat into a descent as he prepared to land on City Hall.

"That was a little easy," said Razor astonished as the Turbokat landed on the rooftop. As soon as they landed they saw a group of people clad in white biohazard suits that masked their faces. They apparently had apprehended the
Pastmaster and taken him away. Before they could exit the cockpit, someone contacted them over the radio.

"Swat Kats, you are hereby ordered to leave the premises. If you do not comply, you will be removed by force."

"Who does he think he is!" yelled T-Bone as he began to respond. "Listen buddy, we don't take orders from anyone, and we sure as hell don't take orders from someone who..." T- Bone was caught mid sentence as he noticed a small squadron of Enforcer helicopters all pointing their weapons in the Turbokat's direction.

"T-Bone, they have us at a slight disadvantage. We're still on the roof," warned Razor.

"Fine, we'll leave," said T-Bone. The Turbokat rose up into the air and flew out over the horizon.

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Razor stood beside the Turbokat examining the damage for himself to realize it was worse than he had first thought. Their little premature flight had rattled most of the systems in the jet, making them temporarily useless. He pressed
a button on the side of the jet as a diagnostic panel opened on the side of the fuselage. Inside he could see a megathruster with bullet holes, leaking brownish-green liquids everywhere.

He then looked deeper and found that the flight stabilization system was damaged as well. 'It's a miracle that we could've flown at all,' Razor thought. He then looked into the bombay to find that the majority of his missiles were intact, except for a Match Head Missile that had been shot through the guidance system. He looked closer to see that the safety was also inoperative.

"Hey Chance," Razor called.

Chance had already changed back into his civvies and was getting ready to head back up the ladder.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked, heading back down.

"This Match Head Missile is armed, and I don't want to move it alone," Razor said.

Chance suddenly got more serious as he headed closer to the battered jet. He was already getting ready for the worst.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Chance asked as he put on a pair of gloves.

"Well, if we both come at it from the underside and carefully lift it together we should be able to move it without detonating it," Razor replied, as he positioned himself under the live missile.

"Okay, on the count of three then," Chance said as he grabbed onto the opposite end of the weapon. "1...2...3!" He pulled a release lever on the jet. The missile dropped and both the kats struggled to keep from dropping it.

"Chance," Razor said, as he started moving the missile away from the Turbokat. "Put it by the elevator."

Chance nodded as he started to carry it in that direction. A slight beeping caught his attention as he looked at the missile. Realization donned as the tip lit up in a flame.

"Jake, this thing's armed and it's counting down!" Chance yelled.

Both kats realized that it was about to blow and ceased being careful. They both ran as fast as they could and threw the missile onto the aircraft elevator. Razor leaped over to the control panel and slammed the button with his paw. The elevator responded and quickly lowered the armed missile. Halfway down it exploded, knocking both kats on their backs. A large fireball rose into the hangar and then subsided, leaving only a trail of smoke.

"Well, that could've been worse," Chance said as he got back to his feet. He looked down the elevator shaft to find it almost completely obliterated.

"Yeah, but I don't see how right at the moment," Razor said as he surveyed the damage. It would take at least a week just to clean up the mess, let alone repair it. "Well, looks like I got my work cut out for me." Razor sighed as he took off his helmet and mask.

"Hey, I'm sure that we'll have this thing fixed up in no time," Chance said assuringly.

Razor, now Jake, only sighed.

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2 months later....

Chance and Jake stood proudly as they looked upon the hangar, newly cleaned and repaired. The elevator now was fully operational and the Turbokat sparkled to the point where you could see your reflection in the glistening black paint.

"I told you we'd get everything back together," Chance said with an 'I told you so' attitude.

Jake didn't reply as he grinned to himself. Their brief moment of silence was interrupted by the all too familiar buzzer alarm. Chance was the first to reach it, switching to his T-Bone voice.

"Yes, Ms. Briggs," he said into the phone box.

"Guys, it's the Pastmaster," Callie said and then paused.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

"Well, he's not the same, he has some kind of mechanical enhancement," Callie finished.

Both Chance and Jake looked at each other curiously.

"We're on our way," Chance said as he hung up the phone.

They both ran over to their respective lockers and quickly donned their flight suits and helmets.

"Mechanical enhancement, that's not really the Pastmaster's style," Razor said, as both he and T-Bone leaped into the air and into the Turbokat's cockpit.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon," T-Bone replied as the Turbokat dropped down a story on the newly repaired elevator. The runway ahead was clear as the red clearance light switched from red to green. T-Bone threw the throttle to maximum, igniting the thrusters and sending them rocketing forward. The Salvage Yard ground hatch opened, allowing for the Turbokat to soar into the afternoon sky.

"I can't believe this, we just finished fixing this thing and now we gotta take her back into action," Razor groaned, as they flew into downtown MKC.

"Yeah, and the new paintjob too," T-Bone agreed.

Their complaints ended abruptly as the cause of the trouble became visible. Above City Hall a time vortex had formed and was darkening the vicinity at a rapid pace. If that wasn't strange enough, the Pastmaster could be seen on the roof, with one exception. He was wearing some kind of techno armor suit, sparkling with electricity. He raised his watch toward the Turbokat, causing his suit to light up. He fired an unusually large energy blast that engulfed the Turbokat in white light.

"Whoa, where did he pick up that trick?" Razor asked, as he held onto his seat. The blast didn't cause any visible damage, as far as Razor could see, but it was causing an awful lot of turbulence.

"What's he think he's gonna do, flash us to death?" T-Bone asked, as he pulled the jet out of the blast and back into semi-clear skies.

Now that Razor could see, he pulled down his targeting visor and took aim. The Pastmaster remained still, staring forward at the incoming jet, unmoving.

"Octopus missile, deploy!" Razor said, as he pressed a red button on his console, releasing the missile from the bombay. It shot forward and extended its 8 grasping claws, heading straight for the Pastmaster. Only at about 20 yards from its intended target, the missile began to shudder and abruptly fell apart, shattering in midair.

"Hey Razor, what's the deal?" T-Bone asked, as he pulled the Turbokat around for another pass. "When I said that you could make a deadly weapon out of toothpicks and string, I didn't mean it literally."

"Negative, pal. That missile just fell apart," Razor replied, not quite believing it himself. "Let's see if a Tarpedo holds together." He pressed another button on his console. A black missile was released from the Turbokat, but
suddenly dissolved, not going anywhere.

"Razor, what's going on?" T-Bone asked. As soon as he did the Turbokat's engines started to sputter and black smoke started to come out of the 3 engines. Armor plating on the fuselage started to peel off and fall to the ground. T-Bone struggled to keep the jet aloft as it started to lose altitude.

"I think I know what's happening," Razor said, as he noticed that his console was sputtering out, with indicator lights blinking out. "That techno stuff that he's wearing is wired to his watch, and I think it's altered its powers."

"How?" T-Bone asked, as he tried to get the Turbokat out of a tailspin as one of the stabilizers fell off.

"I think that that watch has been modified to make machinery age at radical rates," Razor responded, as the canopy shattered into a million pieces. One of the forward intakes started smoking and disconnected, falling to the streets far below.

"If that's true then we're gonna hafta ditch!" T-Bone shouted, as the control stick broke from its housing, leaving T-Bone with nothing to control their descent.

"Affirmative, but just a sec," Razor said, as he pushed another button on his console. 'I hope that this thing still works, he thought.' After pressing the button his console crumbled in on itself. "Okay, let's go!"

The two ejector seats rocketed into the sky as the occupants of the jet were hurtled to safety. The nose cone of the Turbokat split apart to reveal the powerful mega-laser. It glowed brightly and shot a high powered blast of energy back at the Pastmaster. As soon as it did it went out like a light, and fell apart.

The Pastmaster's eyes opened wide as the blast approached towards him.

"Nooo!" he shouted in his familiar way. The blast impacted his suit, causing sparks to fly. It then exploded, causing some kind of overload to occur in his watch. It blew up in his hand, engulfing him in a bright red light, causing him to vanish.

"What did you do?" T-Bone asked from his seat.

"I fired the mega-laser at him, since matter projectiles like missiles would have been radically aged, I figure a laser blast would only increase in power with age," Razor replied.

His explanation was interrupted by a crashing metal on metal sound. He looked to see the Turbokat implode on itself, falling apart in midair, scattering debris all over the place.

"Crud!" T-Bone shouted, as he slumped in his seat. "Not again!"

The two vigilantes landed on the roof of a nearby building, just in time as the two ejector seats aged and fell apart.

"You know we cut things too close," Razor said. "We should really tone it down a little."

T-Bone shrugged as they began to make their way toward the fire ladder on the side of the building. They both ditched their flight suits, to reveal their civvies underneath.

"Maybe we should just call it quits," T-Bone, now Chance, said as he tossed the torn and singed jumpsuit onto the roof, next to the debris of the ejector seats.

"Maybe," Razor, now Jake, said, tossing his jumpsuit in similar condition onto the roof as well. They both stood there, staring, for what seemed like an hour. "Or, maybe we just need to start over."

Chance looked up. Then he smiled.

"I think I know what you're thinking, buddy," he said slyly.

"The SWAT Kats are gonna take a brief absence, but we'll be back, and better than ever!" Jake said with an incredible enthusiasm. They clasped their hands together, signifying a new age for Megakat City's vigilantes.

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The image of two kats clasping their hands together appeared on the viewscreen of a massive computer system. It was surrounded by numerous technicians and workers, all busy keeping themselves busy. In the far end of the chamber that contained the computer, the workers were busy constructing some kind of large device. One of the workers approached a dark corner of the room, where a presence could be felt.

"The Pastmaster unit failed, sir," the tech said.

A mysterious distorted voice replied.

"Even with the mechanical modification the unit failed?"

"Apparently so, but it was not a total failure," the tech said, as he gulped. "The SWAT Kat factor has been reduced as the secondary objective of destroying their technology has been fulfilled."

"That's better than nothing I suppose," the voice then paused. "Continue with your work, we will soon be able to fulfill our primary objective."

"Yes sir," the tech replied. The only response that he got was the glowing eyes of the presence. He turned away, returning to his station. On his worksuit was the familiar technology logo of PUMADYNE INDUSTRIES.

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THE END...