This is Matt here with part 3. More trouble arises and Dark Kat's plan begins to take shape. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TIME TRAVEL, PART 3 McGrath stood before the two masked vigilantes, wondering how to best explain the situation. It had been easy with Hackle; he had nothing to fear from him. But, these Swat Kats might react a little differently to what he had to say. He sighed, then told them what he had now told Hackle twice, first in 1978, and now in the year 2000. As soon as he had finished, he got a couple of awkward glances from both T-Bone and Razor. T-Bone spoke first. "So, you're saying that in about twenty years Dark Kat is gonna unite everyone over in Asia or wherever against us and try to take over the world?" he asked with his usual suspicious attitude. "That's about the jist of it," McGrath replied. "And, during his rise to power, he manages to destroy the world in the process," Razor said, a little less skeptic than T-Bone was. "If this is all true, then how do *you* wind up here?" "The Government, or what was left of it, organized a massive salvage operation to see if there was anything that we could use," McGrath began. "After about a year of salvaging, we found a massive storage facility in what is now Megakat City. In there we found all sorts of devices, including the IDTD and diagrams and schematics of what it was. I believe that that facility is modern day Pumadyne." "Well, if what all you say is true, then why bother all of us with this problem of yours if you could just go to Pumadyne and get that IPDY thing that you need?" T-Bone asked, still trying to find a flaw with McGrath. "We already tried that back in '78, and I already told you what happened there. As for the Pumadyne today, I already looked - the device isn't there." "Then where is it?" T-Bone asked again. "I don't know, but if last week was any indication then Dark Kat or someone else has already found it, and tried to use. We're lucky that that little experiment that whoever has it tried didn't rip apart the fabric of space and time," McGrath said gratefully. There was a brief pause for a moment as T-Bone had run out of questions. Seeing this, Razor stepped up. "You said that you could help us, how?" he asked. McGrath smiled and gestured for them to follow him and the Professor into the inviting lab inside the beach house. They followed, amazed to see the Professor's lab thrown into disarray as if someone had been working for a long time, but hadn't bothered to clean anything up. "Looks like Hackle's taken on a few of your work habits, buddy," T-Bone said mockingly as they moved toward a stainless steel lab table. Razor only rolled his eyes at his partner's remark. "As you can see, McGrath and I have been working almost twenty-four hours a day to make this," Hackle said as he held up a small, metallic sphere. Both the Swat Kats' eyes lit up as they realized what he was holding. "Professor, is that the IDTD?" Razor asked. "Not the one I made back in 1978," Hackle replied. "This IDTD is the one that me and Mr. McGrath have been working on all week. We both believe that it can help us stop the abomination that will fall upon katkind." "Wait a second, what do you mean us?" T-Bone said defensively. "The Swat Kats are a team and we work solo." "I realize this, but Mr. McGrath has insisted that he help you in your search for the other IDTD," Hackle finished. McGrath once again had his usual smile on his face. "Besides, you'll need someone with a little futuristic edge to help you out," McGrath conveyed. He then reached down to pick up a duffel bag off the floor and placed it on the table. He opened it to reveal a number of high tech devices. "First, the basics," he said, pulling out what appeared to be some kind of arm band. "This is the paradox prevention band. When you wear it, you won't be affected by the temporal effects of the world around you." Next, he pulled out a wrist attachable device with a number of buttons on it. "This is your basic cloaking device. It will make you invisible in the visible light spectrum." He placed it down as well and removed a watch like apparatus from the bag. "This is your temporal navigation device. It will tell you where and when you are, along with some basic information of that period." Finally, he removed what looked like a couple of explosives. "These are temporal explosives. When calibrated to the current 'time zone' they can cause things to be erased from time. If they aren't calibrated, then they can cause massive damage." "Cool," Razor said as he picked up one of the devices in his paws. He then set it down after examining it. "It looks genuine." "Ok, McGrath, we'll let you help us, but you need to keep up with us," T-Bone said, setting up the guidelines. "You listen to us and you'll be fine." McGrath nodded, not offering any argument as he zipped up the duffel bag. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AT THE SALVAGE YARD Both T-Bone and Razor had agreed to work with McGrath in stopping whatever it was that was causing the disturbances. But, until another disturbance occurred, there was nothing that they could do about it. T-Bone and Razor once again became Chance and Jake. Chance reached into a cupboard and got himself a glass of water. "Well, I guess that it's back to working on the Turbokat," Jake said as he began to lay out the tools. "With a little luck ,we could finish the frame for the engines today." Chance gulped down the glass and sighed. He hated having to rebuild the Turbokat, especially from scratch. It always took so long to do and just wound up being blown up yet again. Without thinking, he spoke up. "What's the point?" he said. Jake stopped what he was doing to look up at his partner. "What do you mean?" Jake asked, surprised by the question. Chance had never talked this way before. "I mean, we save the city so many times, and we never get credit for it. We're wanted by the Enforcers even though we didn't do anything wrong and, to top it off, we're stuck working at this salvage yard for the rest of our lives!" Chance exclaimed, kicking a scrap tire that was lying on the floor. Jake only stood quiet, thinking for a minute. He then noticed that Chance was perspiring quite a bit. His eyes were also turning a deep crimson. "Hey, Chance are you alright?" Jake asked, taking a step closer towards his partner. He noticed that his fur had become slightly darkened. "I'm fine!" he replied sharply. He moved away from Jake, heading towards the garage door. His fur started breaking out in spots as a brown flesh started to cover his body. Jake's memory came into play as he realized what was happening. He ran as quickly as he could to the ladder that led down to the hangar. He heard Chance give a brief cry of pain that was soon replaced with the growl of a mutated monster. He yanked open the floor board that covered the secret entrance and dived down into the hangar, just as Chance came right behind him. Jake tucked and rolled to get out of the way of Chance as the now fully mutated kat charged at him. "Sorry to do this, buddy," Jake said as leaped over the charging mutation, up onto the frame of the Turbokat. Jake hopped into the not so complete cockpit and withdrew a glovatrix. Chance followed, trying to tear Jake apart. Jake quickly dived out of the seat, just as Chance slashed it to pieces. "Bola missile, Deploy!" he said as the glovatrix fired a small yellow missile that split apart into three cords that tied around Chance's torso, restraining his arms and legs. Seeing that Chance was no longer a threat, Jake walked over to the sink and noticed that the water was an unnatural brownish pink. Viper's mutation serum, back from when he turned the city back into a giant mutation, he thought, then quickly left to find McGrath and Professor Hackle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness filled the empty warehouse, the only light coming from a small desklamp that illuminated a steel work table where a large kat was working, trying to understand something. A number of parts, strewn all over the table were carefully being examined and placed carefully back inside the device from which they came. "Fascinating," was all that Dark Kat could say as he examined every square millimeter of the sphere that he had taken from Viper. It had already proven its usefulness by extracting numerous threats from the past and bringing them to the present, but now it lay motionless, making no sound whatsoever. What puzzled Dark Kat the most was that this device had the standard Pumadyne development production mark, but it was dated to 1978. He stood there, still trying to figure out how this device, which had apparently come from the past, wound up in Megakat Swamp over twenty years later. And, also what had caused it to malfunction and shut down right at the height of its potential. He withdrew the magnification piece that he had been wearing and set it down on the work table. He then took a seat at one of his makeshift control areas that he had hastily constructed inside the barren warehouse. He sat down in his leather chair and leaned back, pondering what it was that had caused the device to malfunction. There had been no physical damage, all systems should have been running at peak efficiency, and yet they weren't. He then looked at a nearby digital clock that he had just recently put up. He noticed that it was blinking 12:00 repeatedly. He looked closer and could see that it also displayed a date as well. It read January 1st, 1900. "That's it!" he exclaimed as he got back to work at his table, where the sphere still lay. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The familiar revv of a Cyclotron could be heard zipping down the seaside road that led to the Professor's. With T-Bone mutated and Viper's katalysts apparently taking over the city, Razor had moved quickly and gotten away. As he pulled up to the beachhouse, he could see both the Professor and McGrath waiting for him. He pulled to a stop just outside. "It looks like the city's not in too good a shape," McGrath commented as he looked down the beach to see MKC darkening as the power was cut. Enforcer choppers were barely visible as they were blown out of the sky by the numerous mutated organisms. "Yeah, I kinda noticed," Razor said as he got off the bike. "So, is this another temporal anomaly or what?" he asked. Hackle shook his head. "No, unfortunately this appears to be happening in our current timeline. Dr. Viper has indeed started yet another of his evil schemes." "Well, that's just great, Viper's gotta show up right when we don't have our jet, not to mention T-Bone," Razor remarked as he started to get back on the Cyclotron. "Wait," McGrath said as he hopped onto the rear seat. "I think that I can help you out," he said, bringing his duffel bag full of futuristic technology. Razor was about to argue, but reluctantly decided not to. Without the Turbokat and T-Bone, he was gonna need all the help he could get. He revved the engines again and pulled away, heading back to MKC. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was cold and damp, the weather the worst that it could be. The wind howled, rain poured, and lightning flashed, just the way that the Pastmaster liked it. He glanced up at the sky and summoned up what could possibly be the greatest plan he had masterminded yet. "Soon, all that it was before, the past shall now become the present," the Pastmaster said as he raised his watch towards the heavens. More lightning flashed. Suddenly, the lightening abruptly stopped as the skies began to clear, allowing sunshine to pierce through the clouds. The Pastmaster looked up in surprise. "What has happened?" he asked incredulously. The clouds had now completely cleared, and daylight had returned to Megakat city. "It seems as if your magic has somewhat been immobilized," a voice said from behind. The Pastmaster twirled around to see the familiar figure of Dark Kat standing nearby. "What have you done?" he asked. Dark Kat merely laughed as he approached. As expected, he had brought with him an army of creeplings that quicky swarmed the Pastmaster and held him back. "Pastmaster, do you realize how incredibly annoying you have become over the years?" Dark Kat asked rhetorically. "You always try to resurrect your precious Megalith City, and I can't allow that. I am satisfied with how the timeline is right now." "You have no right to do this to me!" the Pastmaster exclaimed as he struggled against the creeplings. "On the contrary, I have all the right," Dark Kat replied. He removed some kind of device from his cloak. He then aimed it at the Pastmaster and fired it. The Pastmaster flinched as an energy beam hit him, freezing him in place. Seeing the Pastmaster frozen, Dark Kat instructed the Creeplings to leave him on the roof of City Hall. They did so as Dark Kat left the unmoving Pastmaster. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cyclotron sped forward, sloshing through the mutating ooze that was quickly consuming the city. Razor revved the engines and made a turn off of Main Street, towards Megakat Biochemical, hoping to once again administer a large amount of the anti-mutagen that could only be found there. "So, who exactly is behind this?" McGrath asked from the rear seat, hanging on tight to the heavily modified bike. "Dr. Viper," Razor replied, looking forward to avoid cars that had been caught in the ooze's current. "Basically, he's an insane biochemist who wants to turn Megakat City into a giant swamp." "I guess that's where the insane part comes into play," McGrath commented. Razor only nodded in agreement. Abruptly, the sound of screeching and wings flapping reached their ears as they both looked up to see what it was. What could only be described as cabbages with teeth and wings were intercepting them. "Use the weapons panel - it's on your side," Razor said as he threw the cyclotron into overdrive, trying to outrun the creatures. McGrath nodded as he pressed a button on the consol in front of him, causing a hatch on the rear end of the bike to open, revealing a missile launcher. He pressed the button again and a blowtorch missile shot upwards and annihilated both of the creatures midair. "Good shot," Razor remarked as he continued towards their destination. As soon as Razor finished saying that, more of the flying creatures appeared. McGrath continued to blow them out of the sky with more of the Cyclotron's missiles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Commander Feral stood atop Enforcer Headquarters, on the flight deck, supervising the transfer of equipment. After the attack on Megakat City, many buildings had been left either destroyed or too damaged to use. Enforcer Headquarters was the latter of those two, forcing Feral to order the relocation of his entire force. "Lets move it," Feral ordered as he looked at his watch. "I want to make sure that we are ahead of schedule." Half a dozen jets took off from the runway, all heading for the same destination. Feral donned his flight helmet and approached an awaiting jet and hopped inside. He did a brief preflight check and ignited the engines, sending him off the short runway and into the sky. "What's our course, Commander?" the lead pilot asked over the radio. "We're relocating to the aircraft carrier at Megakat Docks," Feral replied as he set a course for the docks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Razor and McGrath had finally arrived at Megakat Biochemical, after taking a slight detour to lose their pursuing mutated attackers. Razor approached first, eyeing the large building, looking for any sign of a trap. "Well, this kat tracker of yours isn't picking anything up," McGrath said as he examined the screen on the Cyclotron. "Well, let's head in then," Razor replied as he stepped right up to the door, not surprised to find it locked. He put on his glovatrix and selected the lockpick, unlocking the door and allowing them easy access. "That was easy," McGrath noted as he followed Razor into the building. Razor didn't reply as he withdrew his flashlight, illuminating the area in front of them. "Alright, the anti-mutagen is stored in the back, or at least it was the last time I was here." McGrath said nothing as the two walked through the corridor, heading towards the back of the complex. With no lights and only the flashlight and instinct to guide them the two were hesitant to just run on in. After minutes of cautious walking, the two finally arrived in a large storage room with the familiar anti-mutagen columns stacked at the far end. "Are those it?" McGrath asked, staring at the columns. "Yeah, those are it. Now we just have to figure out how to get them from here," Razor said, pointing to the ceiling. "To there." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dark Kat sighed with relief as he had finally taken care of the only opposition that had the possibility of stopping him. He held the Pastmaster's watch in his paws as he pondered what to do with it. He looked at it, unimpressed. "Magic, perhaps someday I shall find a way to use it, but not today," he said as he tossed it into a safe inside of his lair. He went to his beloved command chair and took a seat in it. He activated his computer and opened a list. On the screen images of Hard Drive, Dr. Viper, and the Pastmaster were shone. "Too bad Hard Drive's suit protects him from those temporal variances. If only he had merged with the current timeline, he wouldn't be in jail right now," Dark Kat said without any sympathy. "And, the Pastmaster - of course he would be protected from all this. He is after all a magical being with the ability to travel through time. But, we managed to take care of that problem, didn't we, my creeplings?" Dark Kat's Creeplings chittered in agreement as they laughed in the way that only they could. Now, Dark Kat thought, who is left that has the capabilities to stop me? He scrolled through his massive database of fellow criminals and was satisfied with the outcome. No one had the power to stop him. But then, another idea came to mind. What about the creators of this wonderful device? He pulled the now fully operating sphere out from his cloak and examined it. 'PUMADYNE LABS, PROJECT T-1' was engraved on it. He thought for a moment, then accessed Pumadyne on his computer. After searching for several minutes he came up with nothing. He hacked into the TOP SECRET files and still found nothing. "Strange," he mumbled. It was as if the device had never existed. No matter, he thought. I'm sure that the original creator of this device won't interfere, I'll make sure of that. Dark Kat got up from his chair and walked back over to his workbench. He placed the sphere back onto it, then deactivated it. He had found that it had the ability to let him merge out of the current time, so as no one could disturb him. As he deactivated it, he noticed a biological slime ooze onto the floor. Surprised by this, he rushed over to a nearby window to see the city being mutated into a giant swamp. "Viper!" Dark Kat shouted with rage. That lying lizard had gone back on his word not to interfere. And, with Megakat City already in ruins, Viper was having an easy time taking it over. "Come, my creeplings!" Dark Kat bellowed. "We have a certain snake to rid ourselves of." The creeplings followed and chittered in anticipation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Viper stood atop Megakat Biochemical, surveying the city like a vulture. He didn't know how all of those creatures from the past had arrived, but he was glad that they didn't stay for long. But, in their brief stay, they had incapacitated the city and had taken out the SWAT Kats at the same time. Of course, Viper wasn't one to waste such an opportunity. The past events had allowed him to forward his plans to reintroduce his mutation serum throughout Megakat City, and, so far, it seemed to be working beautifully. As Viper surveyed the mutating city he paused as his reptilian senses told him that something was near. Abruptly, something attacked one of his plantimals, then another and another. He noticed that the attackers were small, winged pink creatures. "Creeplings!" Viper exclaimed. He prepared to fight them off when he felt a larger presence behind him. Without looking, he swung his tail around, towards the presence, only to have it grabbed. "Viper, I gave you specific instructions not to interfere!" Dark Kat shouted, outraged. Viper tugged at his tail, but found that Dark Kat had a deathgrip on it. "Who made you director of criminal operationssssss, Dark Kat? I'll do what I want, when I want!" Viper retorted, trying to break free. Dark Kat merely scowled at Viper as he tossed him down into the roof, hard. Viper hit it with a thud, momentarily dazed. "You have been a pain in my side for far too long. It is about time that I eradicated you," he replied as he withdrew the sphere-shaped device. He fired it, sending a stream of energy at Viper, freezing him in place. The Creeplings chittered in delight as Viper tumbled over like a statue, but not breaking. "Leave him," Dark Kat ordered his Creeplings. "We have more important concerns to worry about," he said, gesturing to the mutated city behind him. The Creeplings chittered in agreement as Dark Kat removed a remote control from his cloak and pointed it towards the sky. From the top of an abandoned building one of his trademark Fear Ships rose upward and into the sky. With another adjustment of the remote, he put it into a hover over Megakat Biochemical. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Alright, push!" Razor ordered as he wedged himself between the column and the wall. McGrath did so, toppling the column onto the now ooze-filled floor. The minute they did so, the roof abruptly caved in on itself as a laser blast blew it open. Razor and McGrath dived out of the way of the falling debris, just in time so see two large cable-connected grappling hooks attach themselves to the column. They then retracted, taking it with them. "What was that?" McGrath asked, looking up. "I don't know, but whoever it is is saving us a lot of trouble," Razor remarked. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dark Kat sat in his cockpit control chair in his Fear Ship, supervising his Creeplings as they removed the giant column of anti-mutagen from the building below. "Be careful, my Creeplings - that anti mutagen would make an awful mess in here if you spilled it," Dark Kat warned as he brought the aircraft to a higher altitude. As soon as he reached the desired height, he ordered his creeplings to attach explosives to the column. They did so just as Dark Kat released the grappling cables. The column flew like a stone, crashing down towards Megakat City. Dark Kat sighed as old memories came to him. Too bad that couldn't be one of my doomsday devices, Dark Kat thought. He then brushed it off with a shrug. "There will be time for destruction later," he said to himself as he pressed the DETONATE button on his control console in the cockpit. The now evening sky illuminated with the large fireball of the anti-mutagen columns. The blast vaporized the contents, sending them spewing out in all directions and into the city. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "That looks like one of Dark Kat's Fear Ships!" Razor said, alarmed and surprised. "Well, it looks like he saved us the trouble of getting the mutagen distributed," McGrath noted. The affects of the chemicals were already beginning to take effect. Already the level of the ooze was dropping from knee deep to shin deep. "Dark Kat would never do something like this, not unless it benefitted him somehow," Razor said, thinking out loud. He shrugged it off, still worried. Seeing as the two weren't needed anymore they departed from Megakat Biochemical, still feeling a slight leeriness about the whole situation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Commander Feral stood inside the control room of the carrier, watching as the relocation was nearing completion. Then, something caught his attention on the radar screen. For a brief moment, he thought that he saw the profile of Dark Kat's aircraft. It was only there for a moment before it disappeared. "No matter," Feral said aloud. "If you are out there, Dark Kat, you better stay out of sight," he said smugly. As soon as he finished the thought, an Enforcer lieutenant approached him. "Sir, here are the results of your request," he said, handing Feral a clipboard with a letter on it. Feral's face lit up as he read. IN LIGHT OF THE UNUSUAL AND UNIQUE PREDICAMENT THAT MEGAKAT CITY CURRENTLY IS EXPERIENCING, HIGH COMMAND HAS GRANTED ENFORCER COMMANDER ULYSSES FERAL THE RIGHT TO MAINTAIN MARTIAL LAW WITHIN THE CITY, AND HAS ALSO GRANTED FULL COMMAND AS THE SITUATION PROGRESSES. IN LIGHT OF THIS DECISION, IT IS ALSO HIGH COMMAND'S DECISION TO GRANT COMMANDER FERAL ANY SPECIAL WEAPONS, SUPPLIES OR MANPOWER THAT HE REQUIRES TO MEET ANY OF THE UNUSUAL THREATS THAT MAY ARISE WITHIN THE CITY. Feral read the letter, and couldn't resist letting a small smile escape. He quickly brushed it away as he faced the lieutenant. "Have we been granted these as of yet?" Feral asked the lieutenant. The lieutenant nodded and gestured for him to look out the viewport. Feral did so, and couldn't resist smiling again. Pulling into the docks was an entire fleet of ships, ranging from destroyers to nuclear submarines. "Oh yes, Dark Kat, you better not show your face here," Feral said aloud, more smugly than ever. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dark Kat watched from above in his Fear Ship, watching as the fleet of ships came into Megakat Docks. With his radar jammer activated, he couldn't be seen, not that he was worried. "So, Feral thinks that he can stop what's coming to him with this," he said aloud, looking at the fleet. "Well, let him try. It won't matter - not at long as I have this," he said, patting the sphere. As soon as he finished his remark, he noticed something that made him look twice. On the surface, a nuclear submarine accompanied the fleet. "Well my Creeplings, it would appear as though the good Commander has provided us with a way to speed up the plan," Dark Kat said as he began to laugh maniacally. His creeplings began to laugh as well, all chittering in humorous glee. Dark Kat continued to laugh as he kept a close eye of the submarine. To Be Continued....