-Title: TIME TRAVEL, PART 6 -Author: Modad -Email: mfiske42@juno.com -Date: July 19, 2002 -Size: 10KB -Rating: PG -Summary: "Unlikely revelations are made, and evil seems to have gained the upper-hand." -Author's Notes: It's a small chapter, but hopefully it should perk your interests and give life back into this saga after its 8 month hiatus. Hope you enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2000 The ocean breeze of the beach continued to flair in Feral's nostrils as he lay on his back, barely conscious. He had no idea how much time had passed, but it had to be at least a day as the sun had set and rose again. More kats were being dragged ashore, some, even from Feral's perspective, that wouldn't make it. Anakata Island wasn't very large, but it did have a population of over 1000, and most of them had died instantly, murdered by Dark Kat. Feral was no fool, he could already feel the burning under his skin, amongst other things. He may have miraculously survived the impact, but he knew that he'd be dead in a matter of days due to the radiation. The winds began to increase, and he realized that it was being created artificially, and with much pain and agony, he turned his head to see a helicopter landing. It was Enforcer issue, with the emblem on the nose. The chopper itself was somewhat battered, its gray and blue exterior somewhat softened. The side door opened, and out walked his niece. She had the most solemn look on her face that Feral had ever seen her show. Her uniform was ripped in many places, and she looked like she hadn't slept for over a week. She looked around, being careful not to step on any of the multitudinous unconscious or otherwise bodies that lined up and down the shore. She saw him immediately, and made a beeline for him. She was over to his side in an instant. "Uncle!" she cried as she knelt down in the sand next to him. From the look on her face, Feral could tell that the damage to his 'looks' were probably quite extensive. Nevertheless, she seemed nearly ecstatic to see him. "You were on Anakata when the missile hit, and I thought I'd lost you," she said as she gave him a gentle embrace. Feral coughed up some blood when he tried to speak. "How?" he wheezed, the three letters taking an immeasurable level of effort to pronounce. "When the missile hit, its impact opened up a fissure that was under the island, and you fell about 100 feet," she said as she embraced him again. "It's a pure miracle that you're still alive. Feral mentally groaned. Alive yes, but for how long? Hours passed, and Commander Feral could feel his body beginning to shut down. There was no hope, his multiple injuries plus the deadly effects of the radiation from the missile were beginning to win the biological battle that raged inside him. He was lying on his back, on another cot within a makeshift tent that had the familiar red cross that signified medical sanctuary. His eyes burned, and his skin felt unnaturally dry, like sand paper. "There's nothing more we can do for him," he vaguely heard from a distance. His eyesight was nearly gone, and all he saw were dim images. "Are you sure?" he heard his niece reply. The vague image seemed to be shaking his head, and Feral realized more so than he had dared to realize. He was going to die. The breeze abruptly shifted, and it became more intense. It began to kick up the sand and Felina had to bring her hand up to cover her eyes. Feral ignored the minor annoyance the sand brought him, overshadowed by even greater pains. The sky darkened, and lightning flashed. Over the horizon, something was happening. Feral strained his already tired eyes and tried to see what it was from his vantage point lying on the beach. Felina looked too, and her eyes widened as she did. Over the horizon, approaching them at a high rate of speed, was what seemed to be a ripple, distorting whatever it passed through. They both watched and saw it pass through the smoking Anakata Island. Felina gasped when she saw that after it passed through, Anakata was restored to its old self. "How..." she began, but stopped mid-sentence as the ripple passed through all of the kats on the beach. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TIME UNKNOWN It had all happened so fast that Dark Kat didn't realize what had happened. First, the time travel device had been overloaded by an electrical discharge on his Doomsday Express, and after that his entire existence had been plunged into darkness. Light now flooded his vision as he attempted to open his eyes. After a few moments he found himself resting in what seemed to be a medical bay of some kind. Not a very well kept one either, the large purple kat noted. Medical instruments were lying about, tables and trays scattered, and the status overall was just plain filthy. Dark Kat sneered as he found that he was dressed in some sort of medical scrub, his robes hanging on a nearby coat rack. It was at that moment that a kat walked into the dimly lit facility, and Dark Kat wasted no time, grabbing him by the collar with a gigantic paw. "You! Where am I and how did I get here?" Dark Kat demanded, rising to his full height. The kat cowered visibly and raised his hands up. "I-I'm sorry for approaching so silently, it'll never happen again, Lord Dark Kat!" Dark Kat growled and contemplated giving the kat an early demise when he paused. It was something the kat had said. "What did you say?" "I'm sorry, Lord Dark Kat, please don't exile me into the wastelands!" the kat said, utter fear in his eyes. Dark Kat set the kat aside. "What year is it?" "I-It's the year 2000, sir!" the kat said, still speaking nervously. Dark Kat looked over his shoulder and saw a closed doorway nearby. He walked over to it and barged through it. The feeling of heat reached his face, the kind that a great desert would produce. The large purple kat almost lost his footing as he found himself on a balcony that sat up high in the air looking down upon what looked like Megakat Square. "What the?" the megalomaniac stated, not quite believing what he was seeing. The light had a reddish edge to it, and for some reason the air seemed drier than normal, but that wasn't what surprised Dark Kat the most. Down below him thousands of kats were bowing and chanting "Hail Dark Kat, Supreme Ruler of the World." Dark Kat turned around to see the building that the balcony was attached to was a building that resembled City Hall. On it was his massive likeness in statue form, towering over the city. At that moment, all problems seemed to drift away. A large smile overtook the large purple kat. "Heh, ha, hah! HAH! HA HAHA!" Dark Kat broke into a violent laughter as at long last his greatest vision had come to pass. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The sound of thunder overtook the skies as the Turbokat jutted through the artificial temporal fissure created by the makeshift IDTD. T-Bone cringed as the large form of a rock face filled the canopy, not giving the larger SWAT Kat time to even verbally react. Colliding at near maximum speed the sleek black jet was cleaved down the middle, starting at the bomb-bay. Fuel sloshed out and erupted into flames, turning the jet into a careening fireball. T-Bone hit his head and lost consciousness as did Razor. The jet's emergency systems took over as both occupants were ejected to safety. The remainder of the jet crashed into a canyon wall, its ordnance further adding to the explosion that rocked the surface. Both SWAT Kats landed in a soft pile of sand, their 'Ejektor' seats making that possible. For hours the two remained motionless, finally regaining consciousness after quite some time. "Owww, my head," T-Bone said, placing his paw on the aforementioned place. "What happened?" Razor got up and looked to see a trail of flaming wreckage strewn against a rocky mountain ridge nearby, and sighed. "I think we crashed," Razor said plainly. Looking in the other direction, he saw a familiar sight. What appeared to be Megakat City was just over the horizon. "But, I think we're home." Chance got up and out of his Ejektor to take a look around and stared in shock at what he saw. What he was seeing couldn't be true, could it? Surely something else must've happened. "Razor, the ocean's gone," T-Bone observed in a worried tone. Razor spun around, at last looking in the other direction. Outstretched before them was a massive sandy tundra, dunes seen for miles heading out to where one of the largest sources of water was supposed to be. "Crud, this isn't good," Razor muttered. The sound of gunfire abruptly reached their ears as numerous kats came over one such dune nearby the SWAT Kats. Followed by what appeared to be some kind of dune buggy they quickly surrounded the two. "What's going on?" T-Bone asked, taking up a defensive stance. Razor did the same as the two were back to back, waiting for what was about to happen. A kat of tall stature exited from the dune buggy, his face concealed by a battered helmet with a dusty visor. Approaching the two, he seemed to carry an aura of authority about him. Removing the helmet the two SWAT Kats gasped at what they saw. "You two are trespassing in a restricted area, you're both under arrest and shall be detained in the dungeons," the voice of Commander Feral said. "Commander Feral?" the SWAT Kats said in unison. Wearing dusty dirty attire and sporting a shaven head, Commander Feral looked as intimidating and strange as ever. Feral scowled, which in turn caused two of the kats with him to rapidly approach and stun the SWAT Kats with some kind of electrical prod, sending them to their respective knees. "That's Overseer to you, scum," Feral stated coldly, drawling out 'scum' and even adding extra syllables. "And, as of right now, you're in direct defiance of Lord Dark Kat, punishable by execution!" The same two kats with the electrical prods switched to weapons of a more conventional sense, aiming them at both T-Bone and Razor. "Aiy, I'm more confused now than ever," T-Bone stated. "What do we do?" "I don't know, T-bone," Razor replied. The two kats cocked their weapons, taking aim at vital areas while Feral looked on with a sneer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To Be Continued...