Hello and welcome to my mega story! I said that Swat Borg was my master
piece. That has now changed. THIS is my master piece. It was action, drama,
suspense, and horror.... Well alright, it doesn't have horror, but it has the
rest.
   Now, on to apologies. I never intended this story to be as long as it is. I
only wanted it to be about 600 or 700 lines long. But I kept on and on and
on.... (Much like you do - Eddy). Now, it's grown to an amzing size. So, if
you get bored, sorry.
   Another note, before I let you continue: There are some VERY facist views in
this story, so if you don't like them, my apologies again. These are NOT, I
repeat NOT my views. They were necessary for the character that has them. I am
patriotic, not nationalist.
  So, without further ado, on with Chapter 5 of "A Brave New World"!

Strike appears with permission of Strike, since without her help, this story
would not have been possible. Hugs and kisses Strike!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: Eddy Through The Looking Glass

   The sun came up over Megakat City, on the 28th of October, 1997. The
citizans of the city started their daily routine, getting up, going to work or
school. Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs were going through paper work at
City Hall. Commander Feral was in the middle of catching up with some paper
work at Enforcer headquarters. Enforcer helicopters started their daily
partols over the city. All was quiet, no kat was threatening with total city
domination.
   At the salvage yard, life had almost returned to normal. Almost, since
there was the addition of an extra person, one who wasn't entirly normal. Eddy
had settled in quite well at the salvage yard, since his unexpected arrival.
After converting a spare storage room in the hanger into his own living space,
he spent most of his time there, or in the main hanger, since going topside
would jeopardize his secrecy.
   However, he did not use his time idly. For the first few days, he devoted
his time to fixing anything that had been damaged or broken in traval here.
One important item was is computer monitor. After work, Jake did give him a
hand at fixing it. After four days of soldering and replacing, it was finally
working, mainly thanks to what Jake had found in the salvage yard.
   Now that his computer was up and running, he was able to continue with his
computer work, writing and playing games. He showed Jake and Chance everything
about his computer and they commented on how old his operating system was, to
their standards. It seems that his Windows 95 was considered cumbersome
program, and that they had version on this planet, which was funnily enough
called Windows 95, though it was nothing like Eddy's version.
   Jake was impressed with the programs that Eddy had written, and started to
write his own. Chance, on the other hand, liked the games. He became very good
at Quake and Duke Nukem 3d, though he also said that the graphics were
slightly dated. Jake also like playing the statergy games that he had. His
computer became so popular, he moved it out of his room, into the main hanger.
It also had its own little place of honour, in the middle of the other
computer equipment.
   The one game, though, that both of the kats enjoyed playing was "Flight
Simulator 97". Being so realistic, they could put their flying experiance into
practice. Chance was a pro, but to their surprise, it wasn't Chance he was
better at it; it was Eddy. He could fly circles around buildings, do
loop-the-loops over bridges and fly-bys by other aircraft. To say he couldn't
fly, he was very good. Even Chance was impressed, and promised that maybe he'd
teach him to fly the Turbokat someday.
   When Eddy wasn't on his computer, he was busy studying the Turbokat and all
the other gadgets that Jake had come up with. Getting his head around the
Turbokat was much more difficult then he imagined. Though the design was like
a basic F-14 Tomcat, there were many differences that caused problems.
Especially the weapons deck. That was still beyond anything that he had seen,
and was much more complicated then he could understand.
   He watched, and sometimes helped, when Jake and Chance worked on the
Turbokat, but it was mainly to obserb what was being done, and to ask
questions. Jake and Chance couldn't believe the amount of questions that were
asked, not just about the jet, but also about Katopia. They, in return, asked
questions about Eddy's world. Each in turn found out things that they couldn't
believe, such as the absense of magic, mutants and giant robots on Eddy's
world, and how advanced the technology was on Katopia.
   Night time was the only time that Eddy ever came up to the garage, since it
was when they closed. Baring a emergancy, once they were closed, it was safe
to come up. They had a meal, which was always pizza and milk, then went to
watch television. It was either Scardy Kat or Litterbin, but sometimes there
were movies on that were worth watching, or anything else.
   To Jake's dismay, Eddy liked Scardey Kat. At first it was just small
chuckles, but by the end of the show, Eddy was in hysterics. Chance thought it
was funny, seeing how this human liked Scardy Kat so much. However, he too was
surprised when it came to Litterbin. He liked that one as well! Eddy realized
why "Litterbin" was familiar; it was the kat world's version of Daivd
Letterman, who, explained Eddy, was a talk show host on his planet.
   Everything went on as it did before he came. The Enforcers had given up
looking for the "strange object", though they hadn't closed the case
offically, and still advertised to the public from time to time. Nothing was
out of the ordinary to the rest of the world. And yet, elsewhere, plans were
being made. Evil plans....

   On the bridge of a giant floating fortess, a figure paced, the darkness of
the night casting no light through the glass domed celing. At the consoles in
front of the figure, others worked relentlessly, monitors flickering. The
figure sat down at a large chair and tapped a button on the arm.
   "Bridge to Power Control," said the voice, male and very British in
sounding.
   "Power Control. Lieutenant Hockly reporting, sir," came the disabodied
voice.
   "Hockly, how long before we can try again?"
   "3 hours, 29 minutes, sir."
   "Excellent. Bridge out." The figure got up and walked towards the door, his
cloak flowing out behind him. As he reached the door, it opened allowing light
to flood into the dark bridge. A military style uniform could be seen, but the
figure's face was still masked by the dark brim of his hat.
   He half turned back towards the interior of the bridge, his medals flashing
as he did so. One bore the initials E.H.N. and his rank bar on his right
shoulder. Five red bars. "Inform me when it's ready. You have the bridge,
Commander."
   "Yes, sir," came the reply, in an American accent, as the captain left the
bridge. As he walked to his quarters, everyone saluted him by bringing their
right fist up to the chest. The captain was pleased. Even though he was
smaller and younger, he was respected, and feared, not only on board this
ship, but through-out the Empire. And soon, his name would go down in the
Empire's history, for being the one who bridged the barrier. And maybe even
conquer the waiting world. Who knows, but first he had a little problem....

   "Don't peak!" shouted Eddy from the bathroom. For the last ten minutes, he
had been in there, preparing his surprise. Jake and Chance were waiting in the
living room. They had no idea what Eddy was up to, but said that it was
something that could help him in their world.
   "Are you ready?" he asked, just outside the door.
   "Yeah," they both called.
   "Hold on to your tails," he said as he walked into the room. Jake and
Chance took one look at Eddy and their mouths dropped nearly down to their
feet. Eddy was wearing his all blue outfit; blue jeans, blue t-shirt, blue
shirt. But it wasn't this that shocked them. It was what he had done to his
face.
   His whole face was covered in bandages, no part of his skin showing. But
what was also strange was the fact that he had two pointed things sticking out
the top of his head. To the two kats, he looked just like one the mummies of
Katchu-Picchu. Not only was his head covered in bandages, but his wore a pair
of Jake's gloves, one that Eddy had asked for a day ago, and he had never got
back. He wondered why Eddy wanted them, because Jake had four digits and Eddy
had five, and so they would be of no use to him. As Eddy turned around, they
found that they was a long thing sticking out of the seat of his trousers.
That too was covered with bandages.
   "Well? What do you think?" he asked, again giving a full circle turn.
   Jake and Chance took one look at each other, before bursting into a fit of
laughter. Eddy stopped turning and placed his glove covered hands onto his
hips, and scowled at them. Chance tried to recover and speak, but failed and
slid off the sofa and landed on the floor. Jake fell onto the sofa, full
lengh, and held his sides because they were hurting so bad from laughing.
   "If you're quite finished, I'll explain my... ah... outfit." He got no
response, other then laughter. Eddy sighed, then he got an idea. Walking over
to Chance, he brought his foot down, hard, on his tail. Chance's laughter
turned to a yell as he was brought to his senses. He grabbed his tail, which
now started to throb.
   "Why'd ya do that?" he asked Eddy, nursing his poor tail.
   "Well, I couldn't think of any other way to get your attention. Besides, it
worked, didn't it?" Chance grumbled before getting back onto the sofa. Jake
hid his grin. For the past few days, these two had had a small battle of wits,
Eddy usually winning. Chance was not pleased. Not only was he out-smarted by
an alien, but was out-flown on the computer, too.
   "Now that you've finished having a laugh, I'll explain why I'm dressed in
such a way." He sat down the sofa, but had difficulty because of the thingy
sticking out of his trousers. Eddy gave up and got up.
   "This is my disguise. It came to me that if I ever wanted to move about in
your world, I'd need something to hide my alien features. Well, this is it."
He indicated his head and hands. "The bandages cover my skin, and with the
help of some bits of metal, I made some very authentic ears. The gloves cover
my hands, and makes it look as though I have four fingers. And this," he said
holding the thing at the back, "Is my tail."
   Chance reached out and squeezed it. No reaction from Eddy. "It's only
rubber tubing. By doing this, it looks like I've had an accident and these
bandages are just part of the healing proccess. And with this, I can go out
and about. Clever, eh?"
   Jake pondered his explanation. "Dodgy, if you ask me. What happens if the
bandages get caught? Or your "tail" is pulled off? It'll look very strange if
no blood comes out of it."
   Eddy narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I know that it's not fool prove, but I can
work on it. Even you must admit that it has a SMALL chance of working."
   Chance had stopped nursing his tail, and turned his full attenstion to
Eddy's outfit. "Gotta say something though, Jake. It sure is a good disguise."
   Jake nodded his aggreement. "I admit, it's very good, but you'll have to
work on it before we take you ANYwhere outside the salvage yard."
   Eddy did his usual half nod; tilting his head down, but a bit to the side.
"You have my word that I will not step out the salvage yard gates. Besides,
how will I get anywhere. I can't drive, and I don't really won't to walk to
the city." He smiled through the bandages. "Let me go take this off. I can't
breathe."
   Eddy walked out the room, but darted back in again. "Crud, there's someone
down there." Since he had started living there, he had started to use the word
"crud" more then any other curse word that he knew. Jake and Chance chuckled
and went down stairs to deal with the customer.

   "Sir, Power Control reports that we now have the energy to try again." The
commander stood up as the from the central chair as the captain marched into
the room. The captain walked over to the chair as the commander walked behind
it.
   "Excellent. How long before the P.I.D. is fully recharged?"
   "31 minutes, 12 seconds, sir," called a junior officer.
   "Even better. Commander, I want a full systems report within 10 minutes."
   "Yes, sir," the commander replied walking out the room. Though the
commander was taller then the captain, he obeyed his orders without question.
The captain started to tap the arm of his chair, as though he was waiting for
something. The officers on the bridge continued their work, for they knew that
any lack in their duites would mean a servere punishment. The deathly quiet on
the bridge was only disturbed by the hum of the computer.
   Suddenly, a small beep broke the silence on the bridge. "It's I.B.C., sir.
Audio only."
   "On speakers," replied the captain, angered that his concentration had been
broken.
   "I.A.S. Titanic, this is the Imperial British Command. What is the status
of the P.I.D.?" said another disambodied voice, unmistakly British in
sounding.
   The captain flicked a switch before answering. "Imperial British Command,
this is the I.A.S. Titanic. The status on the P.I.D. is that we have enough
power for another try. We are currently awaiting for the device to finishing
recharging. Afterwards we will immediatly initiate another beam."
   "Good captian. We await the results. Hail Brittania!"
   "Hail Brittania! Titanic out." The captian flicked the switch that
cancelled the audio. Just as he did this, the commander walked back onto the
Bridge. The captain looked at his watch and smiled. The commander handed him
the check list.
   "7 minutes, 57 seconds, commander. A new record, I should think."
   The commander grinned, showing all his teeth. The captain laughed and sat
back down in his chair. Looking at the power monitor, he saw that the coloured
bar had started it's way across. "Today will be a great day for the Empire. I
will get what I want, and you and your friend will get what you both want."
With that, the captian and the commander turned their attention to the main
view screen.

   "Slow day today, eh buddy?" Jake was putting away some parts as Chance
tidied up the tools. The customer that had Eddy running for cover was non
other then Callie Briggs, whose car was, as usual, in fact everytime she came
to see them, in need of a big repair.
   "Yeah, you can see THAT again. Sometimes I wish Callie would buy another
car."
   "Yeah, be easier on us." They looked at each other, then said "Nah" and
continued with their cleaing up. About ten minutes later, they were packed up
for the night, but Jake wasn't finished. As he got his coat and the keys to
the truck, he explained he needed to get some parts for Callie's car. As he
drove out of the salvage yard, Chance went down to the hanger to find Eddy.
   As Chance entered the hanger, he was blasted against the wall by music,
turned up full volume, coming from the computer. Eddy, however, was in the
middle of the hanger, and from the look of it he was dancing. He threw his
arms into the air, then rested them on his hips, before wiggling down onto the
floor. Chance listened to the lryics as Eddy danced. He had his back turned,
so he didn't see Chance.

"It's just a jump to the left. (Eddy jumped to the left.)
Then it's a step to the right. (Eddy slid his foot to the right.)
Put your hands on your hips, (He put his hands exactly where the song had
said.)
And bring your knees in tight. (He put his knees close together.)
But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you insan-ya-yay-yan. (Eddy
then started to do some thrusting movements with his hips, before making crazy
signals with his hand on both sides of his head.)

Let's do the time warp again!
Let's do the time warp again! (Eddy did the hand on hips, before wiggling down
to the floor again.)

   Chance was now very confused, so he went over and ejected the CD that was
playing. Eddy was so surprised that he tripped over his feet and fell onto the
floor. Chance placed the CD on his finger and looked at the title; "Rocky
Horror Picture Show".
   "Good was it?" he asked, not helping a grin slip onto his face.
   "Give me that. I was enjoying myself," he said, snatching the CD off him.
   "Didn't your Mama tell you never to snatch?" he said, his grin growing
wider.
   Eddy smiled, which looked very evil. "She told me to snatch off people who
are mad," he replied.
   Chance's grin slowly disappeared. "I'm not mad."
   "How do you know?" Eddy said, eyeing Chance. "One test was to see if you
have hairs growing in the palm of your hands."
   Chance turned over his big paws and and looked closely, trying to find
little hairs. After a minute of searching, he realized that he'd been tricked;
his palms were FULL of hairs, since his body was covered in fur. He looked up
at Eddy, who was laughing at Chance's face. Then his face broke into a
devilish grin again.
   "Well, I WAS going to give you a ride in the Turbokat, but if you don't
want...." The effect was exactlly what Chance was hoping for. Eddy rushed back
to him, wide eyed and begging.
   "Please, please, please give me a ride. Pretty please, with a mongo pepper
on top. Please" Chance was gloating now, making him beg.
   "Weeell....." Eddy dropped to his knees and grabbed Chance's leg.
"Pleeeeeeease?"
   "Oh.... alright. Just get off my leg." Eddy jumped up and ran towards the
jet. Chance chuckled, sometimes he acts just like a kitten, he thought to
himself. He changed into his Swat Kat outfit and grabbed Jake's spare helmet
and suit. Before going over to the Turbokat, he wrote Jake a note, saying
where they were. After that, he walked over and climed up and into the jet,
tossing the things over his head into Eddy's lap.
   "Put them on. For safey reasons. And from now till we get back, I'm T-Bone,
okay?"
   "Yep," he replied, as he put on Jake's flight suit and helmet. It was
slightly bigger then his normal clothes, but it fit okay. As soon as he had
put it on and was fastened in, T-Bone started the engine and roared off into
the sky.
    
   "Captain, P.I.D. platform is ready. Shall I begin the countdown?"
   The captain looked at the monitor. It was now that he would make history.
"Begin the countdown, Ensign." A large timer appeared on the main screen.
10:00 it read and it started to count down...

   Eddy was having the time of his life. T-Bone was a very good pilot, flying
the Turbokat into postions that Eddy was sure couldn't even exist. Rolls,
loops, even a controlled barrel roll. As the Turbokat passed a small
aeroplane, T-Bone waggled the jets wings. The aeroplane returned the wing
waggle as it went on its way. Eddy understood that this was some sort a
"hello" signel that pilots used.
   "You alright back there?" asked T-Bone.
   "Fine. I'm not airsick, which is good," Eddy replied. T-Bone chuckled. He
purposly flew over the city so that Eddy could get a look, brief that it was
because of the speed that they were going. But Eddy was loving every minutes
of it. They past City Hall, around Megakat Tower, then over the main commercal
area.
   Soon, though, they were out of the city and into the area around it. T-Bone
explained that they were heading towards the canyons that they practiced in.
As they entered, Eddy started to worry a little. Something wasn't quite right,
but dismissed it as part of the flight.

   "5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Captain?"
   The captain leaned forward and looked at the screen before leaning back.
"Fire!" he yelled. Outside, the front part of the ship opened in an iris
effect, as a large ray gun appeared out of it. It crackled with green power,
and as it charged up, the energy ribbons changed colour to a dark blue. Then,
the ribbons shot into the tip and it fired into open air. The area around the
beam started to contort and change colour, before it ripped open, like wet
paper.
   "Success, captain," said an ensign, happily.
   "Success," whispered the captain. He stood up and shouted, "Play our great
anthem!" The whole ship shook as "God Save the Queen" played. All the officers
saluted and sang along, glad that they were part of history. For them, it was
only the beginning. For whoever lay on the other side, it was the end. THEIR
end....

   T-Bone flew under the last rock walkway and was out of the canyons. Though
he had done it many times in the past, something troubled him, and he couldn't
put his finger on it. First he thought it could worry about the human, but on
enquiring, found him to be okay. So what was getting him so on edge?
   A few minutes later, his worry was rewarded. "T-Bone, what is THAT?" asked
Eddy, with amazement in his voice. At first T-Bone had no idea what he meant,
but looking out of the starboard side of the jet, he found what Eddy was
talking about. He set the jet into VTOL mode and looked at the thing more
closely.
   To T-Bone, it looked like the sky had been ripped open, bending and
contorting, as bolts of elecriticity crakled and jumped from the middle, which
was bright blue. From the look of it, it was creating a tornado effect,
sucking up loose pieces of dirt and vegetation.The bolts hit the ground,
though it opening was clearly 50 ft. above the ground.
   "T-bone, is that one of the Pastmaster's vortexes?" asked Eddy, the worry
evident in his voice.
   "Doesn't look like one of his. They're usually redish-black and don't have
bolts coming out of it. Whatever it is, it's new to me, at least."
   "That's bad, isn't it?"
   "Very. And I don't think we should stick around here now. We'll go back to
the hanger and make our plans there."
   "Fine with me." T-Bone set the jet back to normal flight and set a course
past the vortex. But that was a mistake. The pull was greater then he thought
and the Turbokat get caught in its inward pull. Through gritted teeth, he set
the jet to full power, finally initiating the afterburners, but nothing
worked. Slowly, the jet was pulled into the hole. Just as the nose cleared the
opening, it snapped shut. Afterwards nothing could be heard but the call of
birds and the gentle breeze blowing in the air.

   Back on the bridge, the singing had stopped and the captain had resumed his
seat. He glanced at a nearby screen and noticed that the portal was
fluctuating.
   "Ensign, report; what is happening?"
   The ensign he addressed become nervous as he studied his readouts. "Sir, if
I'm reading this right, the sensers have picked up an large mass, heading
through the portal. The P.I.D. is having trouble compencating for it."
   Suddenly, the klaxon went and a yellow light flashed on the bridge.
"Report!" shouted the captain.
   "Whatever's coming through is overloading the P.I.D. Failure in 2 minutes."
   The klaxon continued its cry as officers ran from station to station,
trying to stop the overload. If it did, it would set them back months. Another
officer with rank bar of commander came onto the bridge. He was the same size
as the captain and wore the same uniform as the first commander.
   "Captain, we have to shut it down," said the second commander, also with an
American accent. The captain looked shocked at the commander. "We don't," he
continued, "The whole fore side will be blown off. That thing is charged with
anti-protons." The commander stared at the captain through narrow eyes.
   "Commander, deactivate the P.I.D." There was a mad rush about the bridge as
the P.I.D. was deactivated and shut down. The klaxon stopped and the light
returned to normal. Just as the klaxon had stopped, it started up again.
   "Now what?" asked the captain, to everyone on the bridge.
   "Captain, an unidentified aircraft has just appeared off the port side, and
heading towards us. It has the an engine signal much like our own air
fighters, but there are definate differences."
   The captain closed his eyes before speaking. "Destroy them."
   "Captain," said a nearby lieutenant commander, "May I suggest that we take
them prisoner. We could learn a lot from them that could be to our advantge."
The bridge crew held their breath.
   "Very well. Disbatch Omega 768. I want them alive. If they resist, disable
their craft withOUT injuring the occupants." He got up and walked towards the
door. "Bring them to my private meeting room. Commander Clawson, Commander
Furlong, come with me. You have the bridge, Lieutenant Commander Strike." The
three walked of the bridge as the same lieutenant commander sat in the chair.
The ensign manning communications sent the message down the flight deck and
within minutes, Omega 768 was in the air.

   "S-s-someo-o-ne stop t-t-the sh-a-a-king," complained Eddy. As the Turbokat
shot through the vortex, it was shook so badly that even T-Bone was getting a
funny stomach. His dinner threatened to come up and over the controls, but
thankfully, it stayed put. The tunnel that they were flying through was blue
and bolts flew from side to side. It was as though reality was torn apart and
it was fighting to get itself back together again.
   Just as suddenly as they went in, they were out again. The jet wavered
slightly, but T-Bone regained control. The sky was blue, bright blue and not
the normal greenish-yellow he was used to. Large, towering clouds reared up on
both sides.
   Eddy was studying the radar. What it showed was not good. "Ah... T-Bone? I
don't want to be a worry wart, but if I'm reading this radar right, there's a
large THING to our left."
   "What type of 'thing'?" asked T-Bone. He wished that Razor was here.
   "Don't know, but whatever it is, it's VERY big."
   T-Bone thought for a moment. Maybe whatever this thing was, it could help
them back. Then again, it could be hostile, but there was no way of knowing
without investigating first.
   "Let's go see what this thing is then," he told Eddy, who was adjusting
Razor's helmet, since it had slipped down his face.
   "I'm not to sure. What if this thing's not friendly?" He had read T-Bone's
mind.
   "We won't find out unless we look. Besides, I'm feeling reackless," he said
with a grin.
   "Don't you always. Okay, but if we get into a fight, don't look to me to
fire anything. I've only just got the cement gun figured out."
   T-Bone grinned again, then set course to the left. As they headed towards
it, the image on the radar grew bigger and bigger, until it filled the whole
screen. Eddy was very worried by now and voiced his worry to T-Bone, who
assured him that there was nothing to get them. When they passed through a
large cload bank, they gasped. T-Bone set the jet into VTOL mode again and
stared at the thing in front of them.
   It was the biggest object Eddy had ever seen. It must have been around
2000 ft long, 500 ft high and it was floating, just floating there. No strings
attached. It was very wide and to T-Bone, it looked like Turmoil's airship,
but everything had been blown out of proportion. Numerous runways could be
seen, with jets waiting on them. The number of windows was uncountable, and
who knew exactly how many lives were on board. By the size, it would hold an
army of 10,000. Eddy noticed that in certain places were flagpoles. Grabbing
a pair of bionoculars and focused onto one of the poles. He was shocked to see
the Union Jack flying on the pole, but something was strange about it. In the
middle was a pair of crossed swords that dripped blood. Below this was another
flag that dipictered what looked like an hourglass, but it had latin
underneath and images in the hourglass itself. All this put together was not
a good sign.
   T-Bone's attention had been on the giant airship too long. As he looked
back to the radar, he saw that there were 15 bleeps coming from starboard, and
heading their way!
   "Crud!" he yelled as he set the jet back to flight mode and flew the jet
towards the airship. The other jets were now in visible range and Eddy saw
what had made T-Bone yell. As they flew over the airship, Eddy saw that it
was more impressive up close, and that in many areas there were dome-glass
ceilings. As they flew over the airhsip, their pursuers followed.
   The radio crackled to life. "Unidentified craft, this Jaw Breaker of Omega
768. You are ordered to return vith us to the I.A.S Titanic imediately. If
not, ve vill make you, by FORCE." The voice was female and Russian in
sounding. To Eddy, this was a bad sign, but didn't really know why he was
worried, except that 15 jets now had there weapons locked on their jet.
   "Eat my dust," growled T-Bone, as he swung around and did a fly-by the
squadran's leader. The jet veered, but regained control quickly. "Slippery
bugger, this vone," said its pilot. "Squadron, execute pattern Delta Delta
Vne Nine."
   The formation split up and scattered in all directions, but Jaw Breaker
was still on the Turbokat's tail. As the Turbokat burst through a cloud, it
found itself surroundered by the other jets, with Jaw Breaker right behind
them. There was a jet above and below them as well. The jets had formed a
sphere around the Turbokat, trapping it.
   "Unidentified craft, I repeat my varning; Come in quietly, or ve vill use
force. And as you can see, you are in no postion to argue."
   T-Bone growled. One thing he hated was defeat, and to be outsmarted by Jaw
Breaker was embarracing. Eddy was scared, seeing no way out. He urged T-Bone
to respond, but after finding out that T-Bone refused to acknowledge, he took
the matter into his own hands.
   "Jaw Breaker, this is the Turbokat. We acknowledge and are forced to
surrender." T-Bone shot him a glance, but didn't say anything. But Jaw
Breaker's response was puzzling.
   "Turbokat? I very much doubt it, though there is a resemblance. You are
obviously spies. But nevertheless, our captain vishes to speak vith you.
Follow us back to the Titanic. Jaw Breaker out."
   "When I see that Jaw Breaker, I'll break HER jaw - in two," T-Bone growled.
   "T-Bone, there is a time to fight and when not to fight. This is one such
time. We'll talk with this captain and see if we can't work something. Okay?"
   "Rogar," was T-Bone's only response. As the flew back to the ship, the jets
stayed in formation, ensuring that they couldn't escape. As they approched, a
large bay door opened to allow the formation in. They flew into the ship,
along with the Turbokat and the enterance closed with a large grinding sound
behind them. There was no escape now.
   The inside was very sparten, even for an aircraft landing bay. The number
of jets of staggering. Officers went from place to place, performing their
duties. From where Eddy could see, they all wore black uniforms.
   The Turbokat landed and even before the engine was turned off, the jet was
surroundered by guards, all carrying guns. Even from here, Eddy and T-Bone
could see their faces and what they saw shook them down to the bone - they
were human, every single one of them. Somehow, they had come back to Eddy's
world. But something not quite right.
   T-Bone popped the cockpit and they both climed out and off the jet to the
concrete floor below, their movements watched by the guards and their guns. As
they turned around, the odd one let out a small gasp of surprise, but most
kept quiet. Two walked up and slapped handcuffs on them. To T-Bone, they were
very tight, since they were designed for humans rather then kats.
   A female officer walked up to them, flanked on either side by four guards.
Her uniform was all black, and had a fold down part at the chest that was
trimmed in gold. She wore a helmet much like their own, except it had the
strange hourglass logo on the front.
   "I am Jaw Breaker. Consider yourselves prisoners of the Imperial British
Empire. Come with me, the captain vishes to see you." The guards took up
postion behind Eddy and T-Bone and the seven walked across the landing bay. As
they walked, Eddy and T-Bone could get a good view of the landing bay. It was
hundreds of feet long and the height was undscribable. Everywhere were jets,
helicopters, people, jeeps and storage cans, even the odd tank here and there.
It was certainly a big force, and from the look of it, very war ready. As
T-Bone looked at the jets, he saw how similar in design they were to the
Turbokat; all black, with red lines across the cockpit. The only real
difference was that the wings and tail fins had more of an angle to them. For
some reason, he swore he had seen that somewhere before.
   They left the landing bay by a door in the far wall from the Turbokat. They
were so far away, it couldn't even be seen. All seven had entered into a long,
narrow corridor. It was done in gunbolt metal and pipes and cables could be
seen along the ceiling. The soldier's boots stomed across the floor and every
five metres was a postioned guard, holding a large rifile.
   They came to an elevator, in which they climed aboard. Eddy was wondering
how this military aircraft had been kept a secret, if they were really in his
home dimension. As the elevator came to a stop, they stepped out into what was
could have almost been another bulding completely. The walls had wood panaling
and the floor was carpeted. Chandelirs hung from the ceiling and the overall
effect was that they were in some sort of mansion then a floating ship. But
still, there were guards every five metres, holding their guns.
   The group continued down the long corridor until they reached a large set
of double doors, made of steel. Jaw Breaker identified herself to the guards
outside and the group were allowed inside. The room was more like some sort of
throne room from Medievil times, then that of a 20th century military craft.
Though the room looked as though it was made of stone, Eddy could tell it was
fake. The walls themselves were decorated with drapes and pictures. At the far
end was a large chair, in which sat a person, the captain. He was in the
shadows, nothing could be seen other then a silhouette. To either side were
two other people, but they too were in the shadows.
   At first there was silence, then the captain spoke, his voice echoing
slightly in the large room. His voice was very familiar. "So, you two come
from another dimension. How very interesting, as it seems that we were only
talking about you this morning," he said pointing to T-Bone. He was very
confused; How could he know about him? The answer was given when the other two
stepped into the light. T-Bone felt his stomach turn. It was none other then
himself and Jake! But it just couldn't be. He couldn't figure it out, until
his mind clicked. THESE were their evil counterparts. And from the way his
counterpart was hitting his palm with his fist, T-Bone was right.
   "T-Bone, meet Commander Jake Clawson, second in command of the I.A.S
Titanic and head of security. And Commander Chance Furlong, third in command
of the I.A.S Titanic and head of our airforce. I believe you all know each
other." He trailed off with a laugh that made Eddy's blood run cold.
   "Yeah, glad to see you again," growled Commander Furlong. 
   "But where's your 'friend'?" asked Commander Clawson. "That doesn't look
like him."
   "Quite true, Commander," said the captain. "Quite true. Let us see who this
mystery person is. Lieutenant, remove his helmet." Jaw Breaker walked up to
Eddy and pulled off his helmet. She stared, bug eyed at Eddy, and helmet slid
from her fingers. There were gasps of shock from all the troops, and even the
evil Swat Kats looked like they'd seen a ghost. Only the captain, T-Bone and
Eddy remained calm.
   "What's wrong? Never seen a human in a blue flight suit before?" Eddy asked
sarcasticly.
   "Yes, but not one with such a handsome face," replied the captain, as he
stood up. He walked out the shadows, his black cape swirling around him. All
but his face could now be seen, since it was hidden by the bridge of his hat.
His uniform was quite like that of a Nazi general, except it was black, and
lacked the swastika. T-Bone couldn't help but notice how much it looked like
Turmoil's uniform, the only exception being that it was black, and the tunic
was longer. Even the commander wore uniforms that resembled the one he wore
when his pretended to be on her side, except they were black, and they wore
hats, without masks. It seemed that this whole place leaked Turmoil.
   The captain walked toward the captives, never once showing his face. The
soldiers had regained their composure and had their guns trained on the two.
He stopped a foot away from them and stared at Eddy. He chuckled before
reaching up and removing his hat. Now it was T-Bone's and Eddy's time to gasp.
There, standing before them in full military uniform, with the most evil
looking smile on his face, was none other then Edward Nikata himself!
   He stared down his nose at Eddy. There was not even the slightest
difference between them, right down to the hair colour. There would be no way
to tell the difference if they both wore the same clothing.
   "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Edward Nikata, commanding
officer of the Imperial Airship Titanic. Welcome aboard.... my dear
counterpart." With that he leant his head back and laughed. It echoed around
the room, until it made T-Bone's ears hurt.

   As Jake turned into the salavge yard, the sun had just begun to set. This
was usually the time that Eddy made his appearence above ground. There had
been more then one occacsion when he went for a night time walk in the yard.
   He parked the truck in its usual place outside the garage, and getting his
stuff, went inside. What struck him was the silence. No noise at all, not
even from upstairs. The building was in darkness. Jake wasn't worried, though,
since it meant that the two were down in the hanger.
   Jake climed down to the hanger, but found that in darkness as well. Eddy's
computer was on, and as the screen wasn't on, it gave off very little light.
He went over to turn the screen on and when he did, he found a note stuck onto
it:

Jake,
Taken Eddy for a ride in the Turbokat. Be a few of hours
Chance.

   Well, that cleared the mystery. Chance had taken Eddy for a ride in the
Turbokat. Smiling at the thought of Eddy upside down in the jet, he went back
up to the garage, and to the living area. There was the Litterbin show, and he
didn't want to miss it. As he settled down, he had a strange feeling that
something wasn't right. Knowing that the two would be okay, and it he was just
being silly, he turned the television on and caught the very beginning of the
show. Within minutes, he was laughing and had forgotten his fears.

   Captain Nikata walked around the captives, circling them like a hawk,
never taking his eyes of his counterpart. How similar they were, in
appearence. He doubted that they shared anything in character, but who could
tell? At last, he returned to his seat. "What to do, eh? Well, first things
first. Lieutenant Linsky, take the kat to one our best holding cells. I wish
to 'interview' him later," he ordered Jaw Breaker. T-Bone did not like the
sound of 'interview' at all
   "At once," replied Linsky, saluting the captain. Two guards grabbed T-Bone
by the arms and pulled him out of the room. The door shut behind them with a
large bang. Eddy hoped that his friend would be alright.
   "Commader Furlong, go down to P.I.D. Control and see how badly damaged the
P.I.D. is." Commander Furlong just stared at Eddy. "NOW, Commander." With a
grunt, he complied.
   "Commander Clawson, from what you've told me in the past, I believe your
counterpart might be somewhere on this ship. Take a search party and find him.
BUT... I want him alive. Don't kill him."
   The commander saluted and retreated the same way as the others. With a wave
of his gloved hand, the captain dismissed the other remaining guards.
Saluting, they too left the room. This left the two counterparts alone in the
large room. Eddy was nervous, standing there in front of an evil version of
himself.
   Nikata walked over to Eddy, and with a click, undid the handcuffs. Now the
two were on equal terms, standing in front of each other, Nikata in his
uniform, Eddy in Jake's flight suit. They eyed each other up and down. Unlike
T-Bone and his counterpart likeness, they initial thoughts were right; there
were no differences.
   "Looking of Razor is futile. He wasn't with us," said Eddy, finally
breaking the silence.
   "Maybe, but it's best to be on the same side, don't you agree?," Nikata
replied, with a sneer.
   "Yes, you're quite right." 
   "I know. I'm always right. But now, we have things to talk over. Follow
me," he said, with a hint of a command in his statement. Eddy followed, but
only out of curiosity. They walked to the back of the room, where a wooden
door was set into the wall. Nikata opened it, and they stepped into a room
that Eddy could only think as huge. It must have been the size of the hanger,
and the style was that of someone with power. The walls were wooden panalled
again. The carpet was a dark brown. Here and there were tables, cabinets,
bookcases. On one wall was a large drinks cabinet, with glass doors. This room
belonged to a king, not a ship's captain.
   Nikata headed over to the drinks cabinet and poured two glasses of red
wine. Giving one to Eddy, he raised his in a toast. "To the Titanic," he
toasted. Eddy had no choice but join his counterpart in the toast. They
clinked their glasses together, then drank mirroring each other. Taking Eddy's
glass, he refilled it, then handed it back to him. He motioned Eddy to a desk.
Sitting behind it, he ordered Eddy to sit.
   "I have many questions, as I suppose you do. But firstly, I will ask them.
Agreed?" he asked
   "Why not?" Eddy replied.
   "Good. First off, from what planet do you come from?"
   "Originally Earth, but for the last two weeks I've beening living on
Katopia."
   Nikata raised his eyebrow. "How did you get to Katopia?"
   "A villian by the name of 'the Pastmaster' has the capibility to travel in
time. But one of his spells went wrong, and I became trapped on Katopia. Your
commander's counterparts found me, and I've been living with them there ever
since."
   The captain remove his hat and leant back in his chair. "How far involed
have you become with the residents of Katopia?"
   "I haven't. I've hiden away."
   "Interesting. How was it that came to be here, in our dimension?"
   "Chance... ah... T-Bone took me for a ride in the Turbokat, and we got
sucked up into a hole. We appeared here, and the rest you know."
   Nikata smiled. "Very interesting. Does your Earth have any kind of
technology that enables dimensional travel?"
   "No. Not that the people of my world know of anyhow. Even this ship is very
high-tech." Eddy was beginning to wonder where these questions were leading
to.
   "Really? How very interesting. It seems that your Earth is not as advanced
as our Earth. We've had anti-gravitational flight for the last ten years.
Without it, we wouldn't be able to keep order."
   Eddy dicided that he wanted to know a few things. "How is this Earth
governed? I heard something about a 'Britsh Empire'?"
   "Yes, you heard right. This planet is controlled by the Imperial British
Empire, ruled be Her Majesty, Queen Elizibeth II. Tony Blair is her second and
Governor for Imperial Britain. The government of the British Empire is the
governing body to which the Queen discuss issues and formulates plans of
action. She has total control over the Empire, though and nothing is done
without her approval."
   Eddy digested the information. So this Earth was ruled by a facist regime,
of sorts. At least it had some form of government. "How long has Britain ruled
this planet? How did it come about?"
   Nikata smiled wider, if it were possible. It resembled that of a snake.
"For the last 550 years. At first it was only France and Germany, but after
the discovery of America, exploration opened up passage to other lands, lands
that Britain wanted for herself. But firstly, the conquest of Europe had to
come about, and in 1789, the whole of Europe was under British control."
   "However, the colonies in America decided that they no longer wanted to be
part of the British Empire, so they broke away, after which followed a war.
They won, only because Britain had no time to recover from her victory over
Europe. Russia backed Britain up, but it was not enough. Yet the assistance
that Russia showed Britain turned into an everlasting alliance, one that still
functions. If Britain did not invade Russia, she would offer assistance and
help.
   He took a sip from his glass, before going on with the history lesson.
"Britain forgot about America and continued to expand, taking over countries
that suited her needs. Soon, the industrial revolution was in full swing in
the joint countries. But, rebel factions started to form, mainly in Germany.
They hated the British, and wanted out the Empire. Italy, Austria-Hungery,
Turkey, Greece and many African countries joined what was known as the
"Imperial Liberation". By this time, the whole world except Russia and America
was under British control, so it was known to the King, but nothing was done,
since they didn't threatened the Empire. Nothing could be done without the
sayso of the King, anyway.
   "Finally though, in 1914, a British offical in Serbia was shot. The British
Empire declared war on Germany, since the assassin was believed to be German.
Germany's allies declared war on The Empire. Russia declared war on everyone
except Britain and America. By this time, America had started to trade with
the British Empire, and had made friendly noises towards her. But it was too
late, the world was at war."
   Nikata got up and walked toward the far wall, on which hung a picture of
battle scene. Men were battling each other. On either sides were the flags of
the countries and the scene itself was a bloody one. "The Great War was the
worst war since the beginning of the Empire. Not because of the killing, oh
no. Britain defeated the Liberation in 1916, with help from Russia and
America, who came to they senses and supplied the Empire with food and arms.
But, it was the effects that caused the most problems. Other countries saw
what the Empire could do and they wanted out. By the end of 1918, the Empire
was in tatters. The only good that came about after the war was that America
was forced into the Empire for protection from the United Countries of Earth,
the U.C.E.
   "Interesting, but obviously, the empire was regained," Eddy injected. "If
not, they how can you say how great this Empire is?"
   Nikata turned and shot a glance at Eddy. "True, for 20 years, the British
Empire was no more. It's territory was America, France, Spain and Germany.
Everyone else were under their own rule, which was not liked by the King. The
Empire had won, but at a grave cost." He walked back to the desk. "It was only
in 1939, when the U.C.E declared war on the Empire, that it was regained.
Russia, now a powerful allie, backed with the arms and weaponary of America,
joined in the war, again. They had claimed land for themselves, but they
allowed joint rule with Britain, which was good for relations.
   "The only problem was that the central command for the U.C.E. was not
uncovered until 1944. Their base of opperations was in Germany, of all places!
After the discovery, Germany delcared war on Britain again. The Second World
War was in action.
   "But, it came to a very abrupt end. Britain had invented a new weapon, a
weapon so deadly that, at the time, was the deadlist in the world. There was
no testing ground, so it was dropped on Berlin. The effect was amazing. The
city was virtually destroyed, thousands lost their lives. But, little did
Britain know, was that the U.C.E leaders were having a meeting in the city at
the time. The U.C.E., now leaderless, soon fell. That, and the threat of an
atomic bomb being dropped on their countries. Three more were dropped, though
until the U.C.E. surrendered. The countries were split up between Russia and
Britain. By 1946, the Empire was reformed, and was renamed the Imperial
British Empire. The world recovered and grew. And here we are today, enjoying
the pleasures that our wonderful society has to offer."
   The captain finished his wine and stared at Eddy, who took a sip from his.
So this world was ruled by a monach, and by Britain of all countrys. But from
what he had seen, it looked as if the empire was run by facist methods. Much
like the Nazis, he thought.
   "I suppose there is mass censorship, discrimination and mass executions,"
he said with a sneer. The captain looked backed, genuinely shocked.
   "Good grief, no. What ever gave you that idea? True, bad things said about
the Queen are not published, but we allow freedom of speech and the like. The
government is voted in, as is the Queen's second. No discrimination at all,
and racisim is not tolarated. Everyone is equal, sex, age, colour or religion.
And as to executions, only traitors and criminals are killed. From you
question, I suppose you think that an empire such as ours is facist. But
you're wrong. However, we will resort to... unsavoury actions, if needed."
   "Like what?"
   "Well, limited torture is one. We don't kill anyone outright, unless he or
she has usefull information. I suppose you don't have that system like that."
   "No we don't. Britain did have an empire, but not any longer. In fact,
democracy is the form of government that is used, not imperial empires."
   Nikata threw his arms up in the arm. "Democracy? That failure of a system?
I wouldn't be surprised if you don't have captial punishment and the police
aren't allow to use force with members of the public."
   "We don't and they aren't."
   "And is your crime level between one and zero?"
   "Well.... no," Eddy was getting very annoyed at his counterpart.
   "There, I was right. You see, in this empire, fear is a major key. Fear
must be retained, or the empire is doomed. Everyone in the military has rights
to punish members of the public, if they feel they are out of line. Some take
it to the extremes, but they're ignored."
   "Like the two commanders?"
   The captain stared at Eddy. He's more clever then I thought, the captain
pondered. "They're an exception. The first non-humans in the military, and
their better then most at their job, though they are a tad bit difficlut to
control."
   Now Eddy was going to get some answers. "How did they get here?"
   Nikata did a half smile and leant forward. "If it wasn't for them, you
wouldn't be here now." He leant back into his chair. "Four months ago, while
on shore leave, I was walking in the forest on the family estate in England,
when there was a large bang. Next thing I know, these two aliens appeared out
of nowhere and attacked me. I fought them off, but it was a stand-off.
   "After that first abortive meeting, I found out their names, from where
they came from etc. At first, they were feared, since they were kats, with a
"k". But with my influnce, I had them enrolled in the military academy, then
promoted to commander, and finally posted on this ship.
   "That was a month ago. But what they brought with them was what secured
they lives. It seems that the Megabomb Dark Kat built had a flaw; if the
chemcials are mixed impropably, and given the right amont of energy, instand
of implosion, it causes dimensional transportion. Since then, the empire has
tried to develop the technology for our own use."
   Eddy had that uneasy feeling again. "And what use is that?"
   "You may as well know," said the captain, his smile becoming evil. "We
intend to launch an invasion - on your Katopia. After we take that over,
we'll move on to other dimensions, but for now, Katopia is the place we
intend to stop first. And now, down to business." He reached forward and
snatched the glass out of Eddy's hand.
   "Because we were unprepared for your arrival, the P.I.D., the Portal
Implosion Device, has been damaged. It seems only right that you assist in its
repair."
   Eddy was speechless. After a moment of stuttering, he found he words.
"M-m-me? But you can't force me to work for your empire. I refuse." He folded
his arms in defiance.
   Nikata walked round the table and leaned into Eddy's face. "If you refuse,"
he whispered, very dangerously, "Then your friend is going to find himself
without a tail." Eddy just sat there, unable to move, even breath. "And I will
do it myself. Now, will you assist us in the repairing, or do I go get my
axe?"
   Eddy nodded, quickly. He didn't want anything to happen to T-Bone. Nikata
stood up straight and smoothed down his uniform. "Good, but first, we can't
have you looking like that." He walked over to the wall and pressed a button
an a computer console. "Captain to uniform storage. I need a uniform, my
measurements, for a lieutenant commander."
   "Acknowledged, captain."
   "Shouldn't be long." He sat down at the desk. Eddy looked around the the
room, and for the first time noticed how many military equipment there was.
Swords, guns, even a suit of armour. Even the pictures showed scenes of
battle. Five doors led of from this room, each one made of wood.
   Nikata observed his counterpart. Phsyicaly weak, but his mind was strong,
and he knows all the right questions to ask, he thought. He might try to ruin
my plans, but mental bulling would get him in order. And if he disobeyed any
rules, his friend's life would become very... unpleasant.
   "Don't be too downhearted. If your worried about your friend's city, it'll
be a quiet invasion, so long as we are not attacked with too much force." By
the look Eddy was giving him, he could tell he wasn't convinced. "Alright,
I'll make a deal with you; you help us and not only do you and your friends
live, but I'll make you offical overseer of Katopia. Nothing will be done
without your order. That way, their lives will be protected. Deal?"
   Eddy thought for a moment. Though the idea of being a mini-hitler was not
appealling, it gave him the oppotunity to make sure nothing bad would happen
to Katopia. "Deal," he replied.
   They were interrupted by a beeping from the door. A guard entered, handed
to captain a uniform, saluted, then left. Nikata handed Eddy the uniform and
ordered him to change. Eddy went into the bathroom, coming out ten minutes
later, dressed in uniform. It was much like the commander's uniform, except
his tunic was not as long and his hat wasn't as high. With black boots and
gloves, he felt like a Nazi. And he didn't like it.
   "Your old clothes will be sent to your new quarters. Now, if there isn't
anything else..."
   "Yes, there is," Eddy interrupted. "I would like to see T-Bone, if it suits
you alright."
   Nikata seemed to think for a second. "Oh, alright. I was going down there
anyhow. Come with me. You will most probably get lost as you move about the s
hip, but if you do just ask any of the guards the way." The two left the room,
and as they travelled to the holding cells, they got looks and double takes
from anyone they passed.
   The holding cell was nothing more then a long line of cells, all closed
with a metal doors. They stopped outside T-Bone's cell and the captain ordered
the door opened. Eddy stepped in and it shut behind him with a dull thud. The
room was the smallest anyone could imagine. It had a bed, a toilet and sink.
Nothing else. T-Bone was lying on the bed, but got up when Eddy stepped in.
His face turned from relieve to anger when he saw Eddy in full uniform. Eddy
explained to him.
   "I had no choice. Either I was drafted in, or they'd cut your tail off. I
didn't think you'd like that much." He tried to smile, but failed
   T-bone relaxed. "Yeah, I like my tail too much to lose it." Eddy smiled,
but it turned to a frown when he saw the dried blood at the corner of T-Bone's
mouth. T-Bones noticed were his gaze was resting and absently wiped at his
mouth, trying to get rid of the blood, but without success. "They weren't
pleased when I tried to escape."
   "I'm not surprised," Eddy said. "And if I were you, I wouldn't try. This
ship has so much security that you can't go anywhere with being watched. Like
up there." He pointed up into the corner. There, just about hidden by spider
webs, was a small camera. T-Bone growled, hating the fact that his movements
were being watched.
   "What do they want with you?" he asked.
   "My services. They want me to fix their portal generator, so they can
launch an invasion on our Katopia." T-Bone's face showed a mixture of
emotions, mainly shock and anger. "My counterpart has agreed to make me
offical overseer of Katopia, so the lives of everyone will not be in danger."
   "And you believed him?" 
   "I had no choice."
   T-Bone thought for a moment. "Is there anything you can do to stop them?"
   "Nothing without endangering your life, or mine. I doubt they'd need me
after it's been repaired. I have to stall them, but it won't be easy."
   "You have to try!" exclaimed T-Bone, getting up.
   "How? I was never trained for anything like this. In a fight, I'd be the
one who comes out with the bloody nose. Thinking is my forte, but action." He
saw T-Bone's desperate look. "Okay, I'll try, but don't count on any success."
   The door opened and his counterpart stood in the doorway. "Time's up,
Lieutenant Commander. Lieutenant Linsky will escourt you to P.I.D. control. I
have... business with your friend." With that, Eddy left the cell, while two
guards went in. Eddy followed the Lieutenant down corridors, up elevators,
finally coming to P.I.D. control.
   The room was filled with computers, literally. The walls were lined with
them, and in the centre was a large console. It was multi-leveled, and
stairways lead up to the second and third levels. The overall effect was a
electronic ampitheatre. Officers, in all sorts of uniforms, though all black,
hurried about the room. One figure stood out more then the rest, mainly
because of his size. It was Commander Furlong, T-Bone's evil counterpart. And
by the looks of it, his was pushing around a younger officer. That and his
voice carried above the hum of the computer.
   "Useless French! No wonder you were conquered so easly! You're stupid and
can't even do the simplest of task. Now go do it right!" With that, he pushed
the younger officer across the floor. He got up and ran to his station.
Linsky and Eddy walked up to the commander, who was grinning at the action.
His grin turned to a frown when saw Eddy. Linsky saluted Furlong, before
talking.
   "The captain vants his counterpart to vork here, in helping with the
repairs."
   "Yes, Lieutenant. He's just informed me about it, and says you are to
returned to lauch bay four for repairs. Thank you, Lieutenant." He saluted,
which was returned, before Linsky left the room. The commander stared down at
Eddy. He couldn't see any resemblance between him and T-Bone, except for
facial features. Everything else showed menace and hatred. Furlong showed him
the station his was to work at. But before he left to supervise someone else,
he whispered a warning to Eddy.
   "I have my eye on you. Don't think of sabotage or you'll be sorry. Or
should that be, your friend'll be sorry." He laughed, deep and nasty, before
moving off. Swallowing hard, Eddy set about his task. He had no idea what to
do, but with help from others around him, he got the grasp of what he was
supposed to be doing. It was strange, being around humans again, but it would
have been better if they were from his own dimension, not one where there was
a facist dictatorship. He would have to be careful if he was to succeed.
   He stared at the screen for a minute, reading the display. Most of the
information did not make any sense, but he feared that failier was not an
option that was opened up for him. Eddy looked up and around, to see if anyone
was prepared to lead him a hand in sorting out the garbage from the useful
stuff. At first, he could see no one that paid any action to him. But after a
few minutes of scanning the room, an officer, his size, and wearing a uniform
identical to his, approached him.
   "Do you need any help?" Eddy recognised the voice immediatly. It was that
of his friend, John Hale, from his world.
   "John, is that you?"
   "Yes, but do I know you?"
   "Well, sort of. I'm from a parallel universe to this one. You're my friend
there." John looked at him, amused.
   "Friend? Well, it certainly makes a change, being friends with the captain.
Well, his counterpart at least." He extended his hand and they shook.
"Lietenant Commander John Hale, Head of P.I.D. Control."
   "Edward Nikata, but you know that already."
   "Yes..." John turned around and found the commander staring at him. If
looks could kill, he'd be a smear on the floor. "Damn him, bullying us around
as though he owns the place. Better look busy, or I'll be on the floor next."
He leaned closer so that only Eddy could he him. "I sometimes wish he and his
partner had stayed in their own dimension."
   Eddy looked at John. "Not too keen on them?" John grinned.
   "Never liked them from the start, even before I got to know them."
   Eddy laughed. "Even in this world, you're the same old John."
   John gave him a weird look. "You'll have to tell me about myself later. For
now, though, let's just get this thing up and running for is highness up there."
For the next hour, John explained to Eddy how the P.I.D. worked, all its
functions, when it was propably operational and how it could be used on
smaller craft. As he spoke, Eddy took in all the useful information, and
started to plan.

   Jake woke with a start. He had drifted off after Litterbin, tiredness
overcoming him. Looking at his watch, he saw he'd been asleep for three hours.
It was now 11:39, and the television was showing a action movie. Switching it
off, he went into the kitchen. But no one was there. He called Chance and
Eddy, but got no reply. Having no success there, Jake went down to the hanger.
The Turbokat was still missing.
   "This is bad," he said to himself. They'd been out for over five hours.
There was no way they could do that without returning and refueling. But there
was no other note, and the hanger looked the same as it did last time. Jake
decided to go out and see if he could find them. Donning his flight siut and
helmet, he started up a cyclotron and raced off into the night.

   T-Bone's head came back from the rebound. For the third time, he'd been hit
around the face. Captain Nikata was interrogating him and was not getting
anything out of him, except the same answer. He was tied to a chair, so there
was no way he could protect himself. By now, his nose was bloody, as was his
mouth.
   "I told you, Razor wasn't with us. It was just me and Eddy. There wasn't
enough room for another..." He was cut off as the captain backhanded him
across the face again. The force was so great that T-Bone was set toppling
onto the floor. Nikata walked over to him and grabbed him flight suit.
   "I am a patient man, Mr. Furlong. But don't underestmate me. I could break
your arm with a simple twist." He pulled T-Bone up and set him down again.
He's strong, very strong, thought T-Bone. "Now, I'll ask you one more time,
where is your partner?"
   "He was not with us," he said through gritted teeth.
   "You LIE!" He grabbed a gun off one of the guards and was about to shoot
T-Bone in the leg, when Lieutenant Commander Strike entered the room.
   "Commander Clawson reports there are no intruders, sir."
   The captain relaxed and gave the gun back to the guard. "It seems that you
owe your leg to Strike here. I must admit, you're harder to break then your
friend. Strike, take him back to his cell. I have to contact I.B. Command."
He walked out as two guards untied T-Bone, then handcuffed him.
   "I'll take him. You two return to your duties," ordered Strike. The two
guards saluted before leaving. Strike pulled out her gun and pointed T-Bone
towards the door. They walked to the elevator, the guards eyeing them
suspiously. However, an unexpected event happened during the ride. Strike
reached up and fiddled with the camera, before hitting the emergancy stop
button. The lift shuddered to a stop, while Strike held on to the bar. T-Bone,
however, was thrown off his feet. Not knowing what was happening, he waited,
preparing for anything.
   Strike pressed the emergancy call button, then turned to give T-Bone a hand
up. She smiled as she holstered her gun.
   "What's going on?" T-Bone asked cautiontly.
   "I can't talk for long, but let me assure you that everything will be
alright and that I'm on your side. This ship is on it's way to San Fransico,
where there is a reported rebel unrising. It's Nikata's job to stop this
uprising."
   "How?" T-Bone was utterly confused. Was this a trick?
   "By destroying the city, including everyone in it. Nikata is a ruthless
snake, who'll do nothing to secure his place within the empire. That's why he
want's your city. He hope's to be the Queen's second before he's 30. Also,
he's the biggest liar on this ship."
   "But, he promised..."
   Strike cut him off. "All lies. I should know, but I won't go into that. You
and your friend are in danger. But as I said, I'm here to help. Me, along with
nine others, actually work for the Rebellion. We have sworn an oath to bring
down the Britiah Empire. But we need your help."
   "Our help?" T-Bone was getting really confused now.
   "Yes. We intend to destroy this ship before it reaches San Fransico. But we
need you help. Don't worry, you won't be a prisoner for long. I'll get to
Nikata's counterpart, and we'll work from there. Just be ready for action."
   The lift shuddered into action, and Srike redrew her gun. She pointed it at
T-Bone and resumed her scowl. But she winked, assuring him that it was only
an act. The doors slid open and the enterance was surroundered by guards.
   "Any problem, Lieutenant Commander?" asked one.
   "None at all. Let's get him back to his cell." T-Bone found himself under
armed escourt again, but his mind was free. And it was planning....
   
   Eddy was tired and his eyes hurt from staring at the screen for so long. He
was walking back to his quarters, which he found were on the captain's deck.
Though they weren't as grand as his counterparts, nevertheless it was a nice
looking place. His bed was a four poster bed, made from real wood. His clothes
and Razor's flight suit lay on the bed, neatly folded, along with the helmet.
   But he was tired, so he got into bed and drifted off to sleep. But his
sleep was disturbed. There was a sound coming from the bathroom. Getting up,
he walked to the bathroom. As he got near, an arm reached out the doorway and
grabbed him, pulling him into the darkness of the bathroom. The light was
switched on, and he found himself looking into the face of woman, dressed in
a uniform like his.
   "Don't be alarmed. This is the only place that doesn't have surveilance. My
name is Strike." She extended her hand.
   "Edward Nikata, but I suppose you knew that already." He took her hand and
they shook.
   "Yes, and that's the reason I'm here. Despite what your counterpart's said,
the empire is not an ideal place, where everyone supports it. There is a rebel
faction, that I and others on this ship belong to."
   "A rebel faction?"
   "Yes. And we need your help. This is on it's way to perform an act of mass
destruction, on the city of San Fransico."
   "Why?" Eddy thought how everything seemed to be centralized there, in
either dimension.
   "There's been a report of a rebel uprising. In fact there hasn't been, but
just in case, the city has to be destroyed, leveled, and no one is to
survive."
   Eddy was horrified. "But that's murder!"
   "It's no worse then what they did to Hong Kong. They wanted independance
and.... well, let's just say the sea ran red. It wasn't a pretty sight."
   "Who did it?"
   "Your counterpart. Nikata is the most evil person in the empire, aside from
the Queen. He will nothing to gain power and influence. The only reason he got
to be captain of this ship was that his father is governor of Nottinghamshire,
and a personal friend of the Queen. He is highy intelligent, and strong. I
wouldn't advise getting into a fight with him. Your friend has already sampled
his strength."
   For once in his life, Eddy was speechless. Strike continued. "He lies as
well. Whatever he has told you, isn't true. He most probably said how wondeful
the empire is?"
   "He said everyone was free."
   Strike laughed, though it wasn't a laugh of merriment. "There is mass
racial discrimination, towards anyone how isn't British, Russian, or American.
Blacks, Jews, even those who are disabled, are the most at risk. Not a day
goes by when there isn't a racial attack."
   "Good grief! The empire must be one facist place to live."
   "That isn't even the whole of it. Nikata has lead many of these attacks
himself, with the backing of I.B. Command. He's a terroist with a badge, and
as long as he does the job, no one can get at him. Besides, his father is the
governor of Nottinghamshire, and a high ranking offical in the empire."
   "Is that how he got his command at such a young age?" asked Eddy.
   "Yeah, sort of like that. He's not the youngest captain, though. The
Queen's grandson, Prince Harry, is in command of the I.N.S Invincible. Nikata
got his rank through his family name, not by joining at the bottom. And the
way he holds on to this command is by being ruthless. He only has things that
are useful." Strike pointed to Eddy. "And as soon as your usefulness has gone,
he'll kill you. He's killed so many who have stepped into his path. Nikata is
what we call the three C's: Calculating, Cunning and Crafty."
   "What do you want of me then?" he said, regaining his voice.
   "Your help. I've already spoken to your friend, and he's to willing help
us. We intend to destroy this ship, not only because it's the flagship of the
Empire, but it should also led to Nikata's death."
   "How?"
   Strike stared at him for a moment. "He never told you? Of course, he
wouldn't. If a commanding officer loses the ship or base under his or her
command, then they are executed. If the Titanic was destroyed, not only would
Nikata lose his life, but his family would be disgraced, since this is the
flagship."
   "Could you tell me a bit about this ship? Where are it's important
functions?"
   "I don't have the time, I have bridge duty in five minutes. Be ready for
action, because you have the advantge. Think about and look at your
counterpart." With that, she left Eddy to ponder what she had told him and
think up a plan of action. And from what he could tell, he had to act fast....

   Razor was now very worried. He'd riden out to the canyon, but had found
nothing. But the perimiter alarm had been disengaged, meaing they HAD flown
through here. Yet there was no sign of a fight or struggle. Lack of wreakage.
Razor continued until he was out, and that's when he discovered his first sign
of trouble.
   From the look of the landscape, it seems that something had happened here.
Trees had been uprooted, plants and rocks thrown about. And no sign of any
metal, which is good, he thought. But it still didn't answer the question of
what had happened. Two ideas did come to him, though. And neither were good.
   Either the Turbokat had got caught in some sort of tornado or... they'd got
into a fight with the Pastmaster and had got sucked into some other time
period. As no distress signal had been sent, it had to be the Pastmaster.
There was nothing Razor could do here, though. So, with a heavy heart, he set
course back to the hanger. I hope they're alright, and that I'm wrong, he
though, as he travelled back.

   It was the next day. Eddy had had a good night, considering everything. He
was walking down the corridor of one of the many decks of this ship. It had
48 decks all together, and a crew of 3000. Though not as many as he had first
thought, it was still a huge number of people.
   As Eddy entered the room, the smell of shampoo and perfume asulted his
nose. The smell was awful! It was the ship's barbar shop, and Nikata had
summoned him there. The man in question was sitting in chair, his uniform
covered with a white sheet. Six assistants were attending to him. One was
combing his hair, two had hold of each hand and were cleaning his nails. The
last two were polishing his boots. Eddy couldn't help but think what a ponce
his counterpart was, acting like a beauty queen.
   "Ahhh, you're here, at last. That will be enough." All six jumped up, one
pulling off the sheet, while another placed Nikata's hat on his head. The
captain held out his hand, and his cloak was given to him. He fastened it on
and left the room, Eddy hot on his trail.
   As they walked back to Nikata's quarter's, they talked about the ship. "So,
how are you settling in?"
   "Very well, thank you. I have got lost many times, by the way." Nikata
smiled his snake smile.
   "I knew you would." By this time, they had boarded the elevator.
   "I do have a question, though. About this ship."
   "The Titanic? Ah, you see beauty in her don't you. The flagship of the
Empire, and she's all mine. Ask away."
   Eddy was a little tired of this over-exagerretion, but let it slide. "Was
there another Titanic, before this one?"
   Nikata looked at him as though this wasn't what he expected. And it wasn't.
"If you must know," with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Yes, there was.
85 years ago there was another Titanic. She was the biggest naval warship ever
built, and a feat of engineering technology of 1912. At that time, she was the
flagship of the Empire."
   "What happen to it?"
   "Her, my dear counterpart. A ship is always a her," he corrected. "Well, on
her way to America, her bottom was blown out and she sank, all hands lost. She
was on her way as a backup in America's joining the empire. Her destruction
was a heavy blow to the Empire, and because of it, it was six years before
America joined the Empire." They had now left the elevator, and were now
making their way to Nikata's quarters.
   "Who blew out her bottom?" asked Eddy, interested.
   "No one knows. Many said it was an accident, others say it was deliberate.
But unless we can turn back the clock, it will always be a mystery." Eddy and
Nikata had now entered Nikata's quarters. Nikata went and stood behind his
heavy oak desk, while Eddy stood in front of it. He didn't know why the
captain wanted to see him. But he hoped that anything that Strike had talked
about the previous night hadn't got back to him.
   "Please sit down. I wish to ask to you something." Eddy took the seat in
front and waited to be questioned. "I hear you had some trouble with the
portal generator yesterday. Would you mind telling what happened?"
   Eddy thought back to the previous day. "It was nothing. I thought that if
you reline the communication satilite 2 degrees up, it wouldn't interfere with
the P.I.D. as much."
   "Yeees?" Nikata looked as though he would bite him at any moment.
   "Commander Furlong said that it wouldn't work, so I told him to go drop
dead and did it anyway."
   "Aaaand?"
   Eddy sighed and rubbed the area on his arm where the commander had punched
him. Nikata knew what had happened, but wanted to revel in his embarrisment.
"It knocked out the communications grid for over an hour."
   "Yes, right in the middle of my communcation with the Imperial British
Command. They weren't too pleased, let me tell you." His eyes narrowed. "I
think that punishment is in order, don't you think? Let me see, shall I have
your friend beaten senseless, or have one of his fingers cut off?" His eyes
widen at a sudden thought. "I know, I'll have him shot in the arm. That'll be
fun."
   Nikata stood up and walked over to the communications panal. Eddy was
desperate, he had to figure out some way he could stop him. Glancing around,
he saw an empty wine bottle on the desk. Grasping the neck, he crept up to his
counterpart.
   "Captain to...." Eddy swung the bottle and smashed it over Nikata's head.
He crumpled to the ground in an unsensible heap.
   "Captain, are you alright? Captain?"
   Eddy stepped over the unconcious body and reached for the reply button.
"Everything is fine. I want to know the status on the P.I.D."
   "Commander Clawson will be up shortly with the report, sir."
   "Good. Nikata out." Eddy had to act fast. Grabbing his counterpart, he
pulled him into the bedroom and started tugging at his uniform. Ten minutes
later, Eddy was wearing the uniform of a captain, and Nikata was safely tied
up with bedcords. Shoving him into a cupboard, he adjusted the uniform and
went back into the main room. Commander Clawson was there already, with the
report. Eddy cleared his throat before proceeding. "This is the report, I
hope."
   "Yeah, it is. Anything else?"
   Eddy had to stall for time. "I want a systems check on the engines. Hold
this postion until it is done."
   "Captain?" The commander was confused.
   "You heard me. Now go," pointing towards the door. With a growl of
disapprovel, he complied. As soon as he was gone, Eddy jumped up and activated
the ship communication. "Lieutenant Commander Strike, please report to my
quarters, imediately. Nikata out." Eddy took hold of the rug with glass
fragments, and pulled it into the bathroom. After a little readjustment to the
uniform, he returned to the main room, and waited for Strike.
   Strike entered the room about five minutes later. Eddy dismissed the guard
that came with her, and sealed the door from the inside. Strike was confused,
and a little worried. Had the captain found out about the Rebellion? Only time
would tell. She prepared herself mentally for what was to come.
   "Strike, what's our plan of action." That wasn't it. Strike stared at the
captain. Had he gone mad at last? Eddy realized that Strike thought he was the
real captain. "Strike, I'm not the real captain. I'm his counterpart. Trust
me, it's me."
   Strike relaxed. "I didn't expect you to go to such lenghs. But where's the
real captian?"
   "In the cupboard. Don't worry, he's not going anywhere. Now, what is our
plan of action?"
   Strike walked over to the desk and leaned across it. Eddy followed suit.
Now they were but mere inches from each other. "What I planned to do was to
sink this ship. One of us goes down to Anti-Grav control, destroys the main
generator, then we blow the bottom out of this thing, sending it down to the
bottom. Scratch one ship, and one portal generator."
   "How do you intend to go down to Anti-Grav control and destroy it?"
   "Well, I was originally going to do it myself, but perhaps you could do
it."
   "Why is it that I'm the one doing all the stuff around here?" Eddy
complained.
   "Shut up and listen. I never thought I'd say that to someone wearing a
captains uniform. You break your friend out of jail, you can do that by the
way, since you're the captain. Go down to Anti-Grav control, order everyone
out, then blow it up. While you're do this, your friend can set explosives
along the side of the ship, and blow it out. There, that better?"
   "Just one more question...."
   "What?" 
   "Where do we get the explosives?"
   Strike leaned across and hit him across the head. This counterpart did ask
annoying questions "Hey, I get you thrown of this ship for that," Eddy joked.
   "Go on then. I don't mind." Strike started to laugh. This was absurd. How
could this person really pass as the captain? It would a mircule of they ever
managed to pull this one off. After a minute of calming down, they set to work
on working out the finer details of their plan. This day would end with a
bang.

   When Captain Nikata walked into in the holding cells, all the guards shot
up and saluted. The captain returned the salute, as they stood to attension.
Nikata walked over to the monitor which showed T-Bone's cell. The said kat was
sitting on the bed, deep in thought.
   "Turn off the camera to his cell, cut all audio transmission. I want to...
talk to him in private."
   The guard at the controls complied. This wouldn't be the first time that
the captain would beat up a prisoner, just for the fun of it. As long as there
as no evidense, no one could hold anything against him, and the crew were
fiercely loyal to their captain. Grabbing a pair of handcuffs, the captain
marched to the cell, and entered.
   T-Bone was up like a shot, and stared down at the small captain. "What now?
Lost your own punching bag or somethin'."
   The captain closed the door behind him. "T-Bone, it's me, Eddy." T-Bone
looked at him with suspiousion. Eddy saw that he wasn't buying it. "Really, it
is me. I replaced him. I actually hit him around the head. Can you believe
that?" T-Bone didn't answer. Instead he decided to try out a theory that had
just formed in his head. Instead of repling, he punched the captain in the
face, sending him backwards against the door. T-Bone waited for the running of
feet, but none came. Looking down at the figure at his feet, he saw that the
captain had tears in his eyes, and was nursing his nose, which was bleeding
down his face. He realized that this couldn't be the real captain.
   "Now do you believe me?" Eddy said as T-Bone helped him up.
   "Sorry. It was the ony way to see if you were who you said you were.
Besides, it gets you back for stamping on my tail." Eddy smiled, though his
nose was now throbbing. At least the bleeding had stopped.
   "Yes, well, try to be more careful when you hit me. I'm very delicate. But
enough of that, we have things to do."
   "Where's the real captain?" T-Bone interrupted.
   "Sleeping. Wine is not good for your health, let me tell you. Now, me and
Strike have come up with a plan, but we both have our parts to play. What the
plan is, is to sink this mother of a ship. I know how to do this, but it
relies heavyly on you if you want this thing on the bottom of the Percific
Ocean."
   "So, what's the plan then?"
   "I will go down and disable the anti-grav generator. While I do this, you
crawl along the air ducts, placing explosives. After the ship is in the sea,
you detonate the explosive, blowing a hole in the side of the ship. We'll then
have a short amount of time before we sink to the bottom. Here, let me show
the course you'll be running." He pulled a skematic of the ship out and laid
it on the bed.
   "Go from here, along subsection A to E, then down to Deck 40, Alpha
section, 10H, right near the bottom of this ship. Then crawl along here,
placing these," He pulled out a wad of putty, fuses and wires. T-bone whistled
at the sight. "There's enough plastic explosive there to make the whole
salvage yard into the biggest crater since the beginning of time. Now, after
you've done that, go up here to Deck 38, Delta section, 6A. Here, you can see
a small alcove. Go into that before you detonate the explosive."
   "Why?"
   "Two words: back draft. That whole area will be ablaze, and unless you want
to become a living kat barbeque, you'll go here before detonation."
   The realisation sunk into T-Bone; he would be incinerated. "Gottcha."  
   "It's good that you do. Now, where was I? Oh yes. After five minutes of
resting in the sea, detonate the explosives. Wait ten minutes, then go into
the corridor, take this elevator up to Deck 15, the landing bay, and wait for
me."
   "Where will you be?"
   "Well, I'm the captain," he said with pride. "After the explosion, I'll
order the evacution. Then it's down to P.I.D. control to get the remote P.I.D.
It's based on Dark Kat's Megabomb, by the way. When I've got in, we'll need to
recalabrate one of the missiles. When that's done, we can get going. Any
questions?"
   "Yeah. What happens if this doesn't work?"
   "We'll be dead," Eddy sadi carmly. "Now, let's get going. Put these on;
I've got to it look like you're still a prisoner." Eddy handed the cuffs to
T-Bone, who slipped them on, but didn't lock them. With a grin, the two left
the cell. They got strange looks off the guards, but no one tried to stop
them. Then it was into the corridor and to the airduct. Just as he had
expected, the corridor was empty and Strike was waiting for him. But there was
someone else with her. It was John!
   "Well, I never thought someone someday would get the upperhand on old
Nikky."
   "John! I didn't think..." He was cut off.
   "Yes, I'm part of the Rebellian. Have been for a while." He turned his
attention to the big kat. "And this must be T-Bone. All ready for the party?"
   T-Bone grinned as he took off the handcuffs. "Yeah, I just love to shake
the house." Strike opened the grate and he crawled inside. "See ya soon."
Then, he was gone.
   "Well, we have to get ready. You all set?" asked Strike.
   "As ready as I'll ever be," replied Eddy.
   "Good. It was nice meeting you, Edward." She extened her hand, to which
Eddy took.
   "Same to you. Good luck with the rebellian." Strike nodded, then turned and
walked off down the corridor. Eddy turned to John, who was playing with his
uniform.
   "Well, shall we? I thought I'd help you down in Anti-grav control, if
that's alright with you?"
   Eddy laughed. "Fine. Let's get this show on the road."
   The two headed to the nearest elevator and took it down to Anti-grav
control. On Eddy's orders, the whole room was cleared. It was a simple control
room, the walls lined in computer consoles. Eddy went over the main console,
while John took up postion on wall console. They winked at each other, then
started to press every switch, pull every lever, and generally wrecked the
place. The constant hum died slowly, until it stopped completey.
   "There was something I forgot to mention," said John.
   "What?" asked Eddy, as he was suddenly pulled up to the ceiling.

   The massive ship was half a mile above the sea, its large anti-grav ports
blazing full pelt. One by one, they cut out, until the ship was supported by
one port. Soon that cut out as well, letting gravity take its course...
 
   Eddy picked himself up off the floor, as John did the same. The lights were
flickering and the klaxon flashed. He brushed down his uniform and looked over
at John.
   "I forgot to say, "Hold on". Sorry."
   Eddy rolled his eyes, then they both left the control room, and made their
way up to the bridge. The bridge was in chaos. People ran from console to
console, the red klaxon making it seem like a scene from hell. Some of the
little screens were blank, or the view rolled, and various officers had cuts
on their faces. Time to take charge, Eddy thought.
   "Report!" he yelled above the noise, as he sat in his chair.
   "The anti-grav ports have flamed out," yelled Commander Clawson. "They were
destroyed from Anti-Grav control. Damaging coming in from all over the ship.
Minor hull breach on decks 04, 05, 06 and 07. Slight flooding in the engine
port, but it's contained. It's not as bad as it seems, sir."
   "Commander, broad cast the emergancy beacon."
   "Sir?" Clawson was now very confused. What was the captain doing, ordering
that? Didn't he know what that would led to?
   "Do it."
   "Yes, sir," growled Clawson. No soner had he done that, when a massive
explosion rocked the ship, causing everyone on the bridge to lose their hold
and be thrown about the room. The explosion echoed through out the ship, as a
large portion of the side was blown clean off.
   A minute after the shaking had stopped, Clawson pulled himself off the
floor, again, and staggered to a console. What he saw sent a shiver down his
spine. A hole 20 metres wide had been blown out of the side, just below the
water level, and they were taking on water, fast.
   Eddy picked himself off the floor as well, again. He helped John up, then
went to see the damage, though he knew exactly what it would be. Clawson was
looking at the screen with a worried look on his face. And this pleased Eddy.
   "Report, Commander," he asked.
   "This isn't good. That explosion's blown a large hole in the side of the
ship. We're taking on water, and from the looks of it," tapping the screen as
it fused out, then coming back on, "There is no way of stopping it. See." He
tapped a key on the keyboard and a cross cut of the ship came up, showing the
main engines. "Here's the hole. Water's now coming up here. Soon, it'll spill
into the next engine, then the next, then the next. There's no stopping it.
We're going down, and no amount of saluting's gonna to stop that."
   "How long before we sink?" asked Eddy.
   "40 minutes. An hour at best." He stared at Eddy, daring him to make his
next move.
   Move he did. He sat back in his chair, flicked a switch that gave him
inner ship communication. "Attention, this is the captain," Eddy said his best
authotarion voice. "This a general emergancy. All hands abandon ship. I
repeat, all hands, abandon ship. This vessal has only 40 minutes before it
sinks to the bottom of the sea. You must all reach a safe distance from the
ship before then. Nikata out."
   His speech caused a enormous rush, as people ran from their stations, to
the escape pods. Those who were pilots took their aircraft and escaped that
way. All over the ship, it was the same; a mad rush to leave the ship, before
it sank forever, taking them with it.
   However, the bridge crew remained where they were. No one was to leave
without the captain's permission. After all, it was his duty to go down with
his ship, and as they were on the bridge, they had to go with him. And yet,
with wave of his hand, he dismissed them. To them, though it was a god send,
it was highly irregular. Though they weren't about to complain. There was a
mass rush to leave the bridge and to leave the doomed ship.
   Commander Clawson just stared at the captain, and one thought entered his
mind; this couldn't be him. He'd only known the captain for four months now,
but there would be no way he'd order abandon ship. It would be a sign of
weakness. He left the bridge and made his way down to P.I.D. control.

   T-Bone crawled along the vent, placing the explosive, then wire. The vent
was quite wide, so his movment was not obstruted in anyway. He passed vent
openings, from which eminated sounds of task being down, training, talking,
even of cooking. Through these holes, T-Bone could see into the rest of the
ship. He passed the officers mess, storage compartments, corridors, all the
while, placing the explosive.
   Soon it was all done. He found the the shaft leding upwards. As he crawled
up, the ship shuddered, and he almost lost his grip, if he hadn't dug his
claws into the vent walls. There goes the anti-grav engines, he thought. He
got to Deck 38, and found the alcove. He waited, mentally counting the time,
and thinking what Jake was up to. Probably pulling his fur out. The thought of
Jake with no fur made him chuckle, but his mind never slipped from the task in
hand.
   Ten minutes had been counted in his head, so he took a breath, and turned
the switch. The explosion would have knocked him for six, if his large body
wasn't taking all the room in the alcove. There was a "WHOSSH" and flames
roared past the alcove. Even though there were a good 5 ft. away, T-Bone could
still feel the heat. They passed, and running of feet echoed inside the shaft.
Reaching out with the tip of his finger, he felt the vent. He pulled it back,
feeling the heat of the flames still in the metal.
   He waited, while the metal cooled down. As he waited, Eddy's voice echoed
in the vent, ordering abandon ship. No sooner had that happened, then running
could be heard, and sound of something be released. After ten minutes of
waiting, he found the vent cool enough to crawl on and back to his beloved
jet.

   Commander Clawson made his way to P.I.D. control, while people got in his
way, slowing him down. He didn't say "excuse me", he just pushed him way
through, punching anyone who got in this way. Reaching P.I.D. control, he
found the room empty, except for Commander Furlong, who way trying to get some
sense out of a computer screen. Not succeeding, he picked up a chair and
smashed the screen. It blew, causing glass to fly everyway.
   Clawson walked up to him. "Have you seen the captain's counterpart?"
   Furlong spun round and almost hit Clawson. "Nah. Haven't seen 'im since
last night. Why?"
   "Think about it, you big flea trap. The counterpart disappears, then the
captain starts giving strange orders. What do ya think that adds up to?"
   "You don't think that little turd is posing as the captain? Ya crazy!" He
marched towards the door. "I'm getting outta here."
   "Look Chance, we may never have really been on good terms, but trust me
this once."
   Furlong turned back and stared at him. "Why should we be bothered if the
real captain is trapped somewhere here, anyhow? He was nothing but a pain in
the tail."
   "He may have been," said Clawson, walking towards him, "But think it this
way. If I'm right, and that goody goody gets way this your counterpart, and
the real Nikata dies here, what will happen to us? We'll probably end up in
some scienctific lab, being cut up for research. The only reason we're alive
now is because of him. We have to find him."
   The realisation sunk into Furlong. Though he hated to admit it, Jake was
right. They had to find the real Nikata, if they wanted to live after the ship
sinks.
   "Alright, we find him. Where do we start? This is a big ship."
   "Let's start with his quarters. That's where Nikata spends most of his
time."
   "Rogar that. Let's find him, and get off this junk heap." They headed out
of P.I.D. control and to the nearest elevator. The flow of people was down to
a minimum, since most had left by now. As the two commanders left the elevator
on the captain's deck, they noticed that the gradiant of the deck was now
sloping slightly, as the large ship took on water.
   The corridor was empty, a strange sight to them, and from the looks of it,
there had been some looting from the captain's personal rooms. His quarters
were untouched though. They began their search, looking for Nikata. In the
bathroom, Furlong found a rolled up rug, littered with glass fragments, and
the remains of a bottle. So something had happened. But no sign of anyone.
   Nikata's bedroom, however, held what they sort. As they entered, their ears
twitched with the faint sounds of muffled speech. They looked at a cuboard
door, and reached for it. When it opened, out tumbles Nikata, wearing only his
underwear and socks. He was tied up with bedcords and a tissues had been tied
around his mouth.
   They sliced the cords with claws and helped the near naked captain to his
feet. He wasn't, however, thankful. "You idiots! How long has it taken you to
find me? Do you know how long I've been tied up? And was has that counterpart
of mine done to my ship?"
   "You're welcome," said Furlong sarcasticly.
   "Shut it you, before I kill you," returned Nikata, hatred filling his
voice. He went to a closet and started to get dressed. "Clawson, report."
   "The ship's had a hole blown in its side and we're sinking."
   Nikata spun around, shock filling his face. "My ship is sinking? My SHIP?
Oh, that's it!" He pulled on a coat and left the room, the two commanders
tailing him. "Furlong, Clawson. I want you to find T-Bone. He'll most probably
be on his way to his Turbokat. Kill him."
   "And what about your counterpart?" asked Furlong.
   Nikata looked at him, and his eye's blazed with malace. He smiled, but it
wasn't one of happiness. There was no trace of good in it. "I will deal with
him.... personally. Now, you have your orders. Carry them out." He saluted, so
they saluted back, before going off to find the other kat. Nikata went in the
other direction. He had a good idea where his counterpart would be.

   Jake had not had a good nights rest, and because of it, had slept in late.
He hated to sleep in, but considering what he went through last night, he
thought he was entitled. He got up and rushed to Chance's room. The bed was
empty, and was still made. No one had slept in it.
   He made his way to the kitchen, slowly. His worry was evident on his face.
Chance had never been out this late without ringing to say so. And the fact
that Eddy was with him didn't make anything better. Something had happened to
them, and he felt so helpless in not being able to do anything about it. It
couldn't go and report them missing. Jake made up his mind to go out and look
for them again.

   T-Bone made his way down the now deserted corridor. Occastionly, someone
would run past him, but took no notice of him. The deck had started to slope
slightly, but T-Bone didn't see this until he got further up the ship. It was
a gentle slope upwards, like walking up a small hill.
   He found the elevator, and took it up to Deck 23. As the lift went up, the
lights flickered a few times, but didn't go out. It stopped, and the corridor
was that he had seen when he first came here, minus the guards. On the floor
was a gun, so he picked it up, for safety reasons. For some reason, the fur
on the back of his neck stood up. It was too quiet, and so his Enforcer
training took over.
   As he turned a cornor, something slammed into his back, making him lose his
balance, and drop the gun. It landed on the floor with a clatter, and slid
down a grate, lost forever. He turned round, and there, standing in front of
him, was the evil versions of himself and Jake. Both were grinning, like kats
that just caught the mouse. And he didn't think that either of them thought
they were the mouse.
   "Well lookie what we've got here. What do ya think we should do with him,
Chance?" Clawson laughed, a deep, crual laugh.
   "I know. Let's KILL him!" T-Bone took up a defensive stand as the other two
leaped up, claws at the ready, preparing to cut T-Bone to ribbons.

   Eddy ran down the corridor, towards P.I.D. control. The corridor was empty,
and objects littered the floor, such as guns, trays and electronic equipment.
The flood of people had gone down to a bare minimum now, and only a few
remained, though they were heading towards salvation.
   Entering P.I.D. control, Eddy could now hear the hum of the computer as it
went about it's business, unknowing that it would soon be at the bottom of the
sea. He checked his watch. Roughly 30 minutes before the ship sank. As if on
que the lights flickered, before coming back on again. By now, the sloping was
very noticable, though walking was still possible.
   He searched around for the portable P.I.D, only finding it after five
minutes of valued time. The ship groaned as the pressure mounted, and lights
flickered yet again. At last, Eddy found the very thing he was looking for.
The device looked like an ordinary missile, but it was what was inside that
he wanted. A small, disk shaped object that could be fitted inside any old
missile. Placing that inside, he resumed his search for the portable control
computer.
   That was easy to find. By now, the room was sloping greatly, and a few
loose objects started their descent down to the other end of the room. Eddy
decided that now was a good time to leave. But his exit was blocked by a
figure. He didn't see it until he had bumped into it. The figure punched Eddy,
who was sent flying down the other end of the room. The groaning of the ship
was very loud, and it seemed that the ship had now its own voice to call for
help.
   Eddy helped himself up and looked around for the figure. He found him,
holding the portable control. He tapped his feet and clicked his tongue. Eddy
knew who this was now, and became very afraid.
   "Well, well well. What do you know? I was right," said Nikata as he placed
the lap top on a desk. "That wasn't a very nice thing you did, you know." He
stood with his hands on his hips. The clothing that he wore wasn't a uniform,
but it was all black, with a long black overcoat on top.
   "You deserved it, you son of a bi...." Nikata had picked up a chunk of
metal from somewhere, and taking aim with it, he threw it at Eddy. Eddy was
caught off guard, and it hit him squarly on the head, sending him down on the
floor again. He looked up as his vision blurred as the knock had thrown off
his glasses. Blood ran down his face, into his eyes and they stung with pain,
though it didn't dull the pain in his head. Nikata had come over to him,
holding onto the computer stands to keep up right. He circled Eddy like hawk
circling its prey.
   "My dear counterpart. You should never have messed with me. I'm going to
beat you to within an inch of your life. Then, I'm going to kill you. This is
for my ship." He kicked Eddy in the groin, sending him doubling up in pain.
   "This is for my command." Another kick, this time to that stomach.
   "This is for my family name." A kick to the chest.
   "And this, is for me." Just as his boot was about to hit Eddy's head, Eddy
reached out, grabbed Nikata's foot, and pulled on it, sending Nikata falling
to the floor. Before Nikata could regain his senses, Eddy was on him, his
hands around his evil counterpart's throat.

   The area around the stricken ship was littered with small boats, either
escape pods or actual battle ships. Everyone was trying to get away from the
sinking vessal as quickly as possible, so as not to be sucked down in the
suction. The front end of the ship was under water, but the other end was not
yet exposed. They knew as soon as it was, the end would soon come.
 
   T-Bone fended of the first attack, though his right arm was slashed. Any
more like that and he'd be shish-ka-bob. The evil Swat Kats regained their
balance and ran at T-Bone. He brought up his fists and manges to keep them off
with punches, but he miscalculated their actions, and the evil Jake sprung up
and on his back. The commander punched T-bone around the face until his nose
bleed, but T-Bone rolled out and the commander fell flat on his face.
   While this was happening, the evil Chance had gotton hold of an metal bar,
and swung it into T-Bone's back. He staggered and fell to his knees. Clawson
got to his feet and slammed his foot into T-Bone's head, sending him back on
the floor.
   "Nobody... knocks me... down," he panted at the unmoving body. He walked
over and kicked the Swat Kat in the ribs, but still he didn't move.
   "Looks like you got him." He was wrong. This was the moment that T-Bone was
looking for. He jumped up, grabbed Clawson and threw him at Furlong. Both
ended up on the floor in a heap. T-Bone ran down the corridor, as the two
commanders untangled themselves and took pursuit. He ran and ran - straight
into a dead end. As he stood, he looked up, and what he saw gave him an idea.
   When the two commanders turned the corner, they found a dead end. But no
Swat Kat. They looked at each other in alarm, but they had kept their guard
down. T-Bone fell down behind them from the ceiling and with a swift movement
for his arms, smashed their head together. They fell, unconsious, to the fall.
   "Take that, you poor excuses for kats," said T-Bone, before spitting on
them. The sloping was now quite alarming, and T-Bone had to hold onto the wall
to keep from slipping down. He reached the landing bay, and there was his jet.
Very few jets was present, but the tanks and jeeps remained. T-Bone got into
the cockpit, relieved that they was still fuel in the tank, and set about
nursing his arm, while awiting for Eddy. He hoped he hadn't gotten into any
trouble.

   Eddy slowly squezed Nikata's throat, trying to knock him out. But was
unsucessful. Instead, Nikata got hold of a wooden drawer and smashed it over
Eddy's head. He was sent realing, as Nikata got up, and leaped at Eddy. They
both landed into the main computer console, the desk sticking into Eddy's
back, making him yell. This amused Nikata, who swiftly roundhoused him. Eddy
fell to his knees, his nose a turrant of blood.
   But Nikata wasn't finished. As Eddy recovered on all fours, he walked over
and kicked him in the stomach again and again. Eddy decided that he wasn't
going to take anymore, got up slowly and stared Nikata in the eyes. He wasn't
a violent person, but in this case he could make an exception. Reaching back,
he slammed his fist as hard as he could into Nikata's face, sending him
realing backwards. Now it was Eddy's turn to be the preditor.
   Nikata recovered quickly, and lauched himself at Eddy, sending them both
through a glass panel. Small fragments of glass stuck into Eddy's balk,
drawing small, but numberous bead of blood. With Nikata on top of him, he
punched Eddy in the eye. Eddy returned by slamming his knee between Nikata's
legs, grabbing hold of his coat, and throwing Nikata over him and into a wall.
   He sprawled on the floor, dizzy from hitting the wall, but got up quickly.
Eddy had just got up, so Nikata raced at him and they both hit a computer.
Nikata punched Eddy in the stomach, and as he bent double, Nikata brought both
fists into his back, afterwards kneeing him again in the face. Eddy fell to
the floor for what seemed like the hundredth time. Nikata simply stood there,
admiring his work.
   "You play... a good game... counterpart...," he panted, out of breath. "But
the game's.... finished. Now... you.... die!" He spat the last part out. Eddy
couldn't take it anymore, and collasped, worn out. Nikata bent his head back
and laughed, then pulled a large bowie knife from inside of his coat. The
blade was roughly seven inches long and gleamed in the light.
   "No more delays. No more teasing. Time to play. Time to die." He turned
around to drive the blade into Eddy's heart, but he wasn't there.
   As he stared at the spot, something slammed into his back, making him drop
the knife. Eddy dived from behind at the knife, as did Nikata. There was a
wreastle as they both grabbed the knife, and Nikata managed to dig it into
Eddy's left arm. But the overall outcome surprised Nikata. He ended up on top
of Eddy, who was holding the knife. Eddy's only action was to stick the knife
upwards - straight into Nikata. He eyes bulged as all seven inches went into
his stomach. Struggling, he stood upright, he started to splutter as he stared
down at the hilt. Nothing could be seen of the blade, since it was all inside
off him. Blood ran down is clothing, and collected in a pool at his feet.
Nikata grasped hold of the hilt, before collasping to the ground.
   Eddy jumped up, shocked at his action. Had he just stabbed his counterpart?
Had he just killed him? He mind shut down, not being able to process the
information. He stubbled into a computer, and slide to the ground. Nikata
thrashed about, as bright crimson blood flowed form his body. Eddy just stared
blankly at him, unable to move. All the while, the took on water, and the room
sloped futher and futher upwards. Soon, Nikata stopped moving and stayed
still. He was dead.
   Eddy got up and looked at his dead counterpart. His mind was screaming for
him to move, to get going, but his body didn't move, his eyes not leaving the
corspe. Finally, his mind won the battle, and his body moved to get the
portable control device. At last, not before grabbing his glasses, he ran from
the room, and on to the landing bay.

   Clawson stirred from his forced sleep. The first thing that came to his
mind was the fact that his head hurt, a lot. Second was the fact that there
was a large weight on top of him. As he regained full concesious, he found
that the large weight Furlong was lying on him. Shifting his body, he crawled
out from under him. He stood over him. Furlong was still asleep. A quick kick
to the chest brought him around. "Whaaa... Where's 'e? Where is he?"
   "Gone. So should we," replied Clawson.
   "What about..."
   "Nevermind him, let's just get outta here!" They ran down the corridor, and
into the landing bay. The other Turbokat sat there, but their attention was
fixed on their mode of escape; their Turbokat. Jumping in, regardless to
flight suits and other safety gear, Furlong fired up the engine, and roared
out of the landing bay and into the sky. Their actions were watched by T-Bone,
who was getting worried about Eddy.
   As if on que, Eddy came running in, holding a lap top computer under his
arm. T-Bone jumped out of the jet, and was at the wing as Eddy reached him,
panting for lost breath. Landing at Eddy's feet they first reaction was to
look at each other in disbelief.
   "What happened to you?" they asked to the same time.
   "We have time to discuss war wounds latter. First let's get the HELL out of
here," yelled Eddy, over the dine of the stricken ship.
   "Rogar that. What's the first step?"
   Eddy reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a microchip.
"We need to put this into one of the Turbokat's ordinary missiles. You do that
while I plug this into the jet's systems," indicating the lap top, before
handing T-Bone the chip. "It needs to go in the front on the missile, five cm.
from the main port."
   Clambering up and into the cockpit, Eddy had to becareful as his stomach
still hurt from Nikata's blows. T-Bone must have had a run in with his
counterpart he thought, as he climed into Razor's seat. Hooking the lap top
into the jet's sustems, he was relieved they were compatable. Logging into the
weapon systems, he found that not only could he control weapons, but also
flight, but to a lesser degree. A message popped up saying that the portable
P.I.D. was online and ready for firing.
   T-Bone clambered into the cockpit, sealing it as he did. "You buckled up
back there?" he asked.
   Eddy did his harness. "Now I am. Let's blow this joint." T-Bone grinned as
he started the engines. He threw the lever forward, but nothing happened. The
jet remained exactly where it was. T-Bone became more frustrated each second.
Eddy taped into the computer and brought up a statis screen.
   "T-Bone, it appears that because of the ship's prediciment, the magnetic
locks have been established to make sure the jets and things stay where they
are."
   "Can you release them?" he asked.
   "Yes and no."
   "Yes and no?"
   "Yes, I can. And no, because it's done straight from the bridge. And
according to this picture, it's now under water. We're trapped." Eddy stared
at horror as the ship on the screen tipped upwards more and more, while going
down more and more. T-Bone just stared ahead. He didn't want to go down on
this cruddy ship, but it was useless.
   As they sat there, an ear-piercing groan shook the landing bay. The sound
of metal upon metal was ground shaking. As they watched, various beams and
pipes fell around them. None hit the Turbokat though, but that was the least
of their worries. The pressure of falling took over, and the harnesses dug
into their pained bodies.

   Within P.I.D. control, nothing stirred and there was not a sound, except
for the hum of the computer, and groan of the dieing ship. The room was a
mess. Glass littered the floor, as did various other objects, such as
overturned chairs and paper. In the middle was the lifeless body of Captain
Nikata.
   Suddenly, his eyes flicked open. He was alive! Slowly, like an old man, he
started to get up, the knife still in him. Sitting up right, he looked slowly
around the room. No one else could be seen. He quietly thanked for that,
before helping himself up. His clothes were soaked in his own blood and his
strengh all but gone. Yet he still stood. Soon, he walked out the room, and
to the nearest elevator.
   As he rode the elevator, he turned his attention to the knife. Slowly, he
reached behind to his back and felt. The tip of the blade poked through his
back. Though he was strong willed, the feeling made him shudder. Yet, he could
not feel the knife, nor any pain. For one moment, he was sure was dead, but as
the ship shuddered, he knife turned slightly and a jolt of pain raced in his
body. He was alive after all.
   The elevator stopped on the bridge level, and he shuffled out into the
corridor. As the corridor's gradient was getting steeper, he found that he had
to hold onto the wall at keep himself upright. Being at the very top of the
ship always boosted his importance level, but not today.
   The bridge was empty and as silent as a tomb. He dragged himself over to
his chair and sat down in it, as he had done so many times. But this time was
different. This would be his last time. The last time that Captain Nikata
would sit on the bridge of his ship, the Titanic.
   Nikata thought to his counterpart, and cursed him for all it was worth. How
could he had let such an inferior little insect get the better of him? He had
not been rash in his dealings. Somehow, his counterpart must have had help.
   "The Rebellion!" he whispered, his strengh draining out slowly. Somehow, a
rebellion member must have got aboard his ship. How? He checked everyone
himself, personly. He had been tricked. If he could, he would have lashed out
at someone here on the bridge. But there was no one. They had all deserted
him. Even his loyal commanders. He felt betrayed and alone. For the first time
in his life, he felt alone. No one would miss him, it would seem. The Nikata
name would go down as a name of dishonour.
   How he hated himself. Another thing surprised him. He was crying. This was
the first time he had ever cried. Nikata did not want to think of things that
had happened here, his mind turned to past glories. His first kill in Africa
at 12, an African elephant. His first man hunt at 13. Nikata had been the one
to shoot the game, some prisoner that was destined to die anyway. How he got
this ship. And to his accplishment in Honk Kong. How he had loved that day,
the feel of the kill in his veins.
   All the while, the ship sunk lower and lower. The water level had reached
the dome and soon that too would be under water. Nikata would have seen this,
if he had not fallen asleep, dweling on the past. If had seen the water, he
might have made a run of it. But then, he didn't see it.
   Within minutes, the whole bridge was under water. All that could be heard
was the running of water. But something had to give. The pressure on the dome
was great. Soon, little cracks appeared, spraying water into the bridge. If
Nikata had been awake, he would have seen how the cracks grew larger and
larger. Then, it gave in. The dome exploded inwards, sending torrents of water
into the bridge. Within seconds, the bridge was full of water, and nothing
stirred benegth it's cold, blue surface.

   All the Titanic crew watched as their once great ship slipped further and
further under the waves. It looked like some large building slipping into the
ground. As it went down, large explosions filled the air. All up the side,
large cracks appeared as the ship slowly started to tear itself apart. The
cracks grew larger, until large sections ripped away from themselves, as the
ship split in two.
   The edges were jagged, like teeth, and the interior could be seen.
Corridors, rooms, whole decks. The light, that were still operational, died
slowly as main power was cut off, permeately. One half disappeared below the
sea, as the other half veered downwards, landing in the sea. At first,
everone thought it would stay like that, afloat, but soon it started it's
journey upwards, and downward again, below the sea.

   Eddy shook his head too clear away the spots in front of his eyes. As his
vision cleared, he saw that the picture of the ship was replaced with static.
But what was more important was that main power was off line. As were the
magnetic locks!
   "T-Bone, get us out of here!" he yelled. Not stopping to ask why, he pushed
the lever forward, and the jet shot forward, passed all the other tanks and
remaining jets as they slid downward. The Turbokat shot out of the landing
bay doors like a bullet from a gun, virtually vertical. T-Bone straightened
the jet and set it to VTOL mode.
   Both pilot and passanger watched as the front end of the ship stood
straight up in the air for a few mintues, then started its descent down.
Faster and faster it went. Windows along the side exploded outwards as water
rushed up the ship like a funnel. Just before the landing bay door reached
parallel to the surface, a large water sprout shot in the air, narrowly
missing the Turbokat. Then, with an audiable sucking sound, it disappeared
below the surface of the water, going forever.
   Eddy stared at the spot where the ship had been. For a minute there was
silence in the Turbokat before Eddy broke it. "So history does repeat itself."
   T-Bone looked back at him. "What'd you mean?" he asked.
   "Nothing. I'll explain later." He couldn't help but think he had almost
witnessed an event from the past of his world, the sinking of the real Titanic
as he knew it.
   "So that's that," he said, finally breaking his thoughts of the past. "Now
let's go home." He glanced at the radar, and almost fainted. The amount of
dots was uncountable. Every single aircraft that had been on the ship was
heading towards them, weapons armed. "T-BONE!!" he yelled.
   "Yeah, I know," he said, as he turned the jet away from them, setting it
to normal flight mode, and flying in the opposite way. Eddy typed on the
computer, seting the sequence.
   "T-Bone, on my mark, I want you to engage full afterburners."
   "Why?" he enquired.
   "A large amount of energy and thrust is needed. The Titanic would have
provided that with engine power alone, but I need to improvise here. What I
intend to do is explode the missile inside the jet."
   T-Bone lost control for a second as stared back in horror. "Explode it
inside the jet?!? Why for?"
   "The explosion, in theory, if I got right from Strike, will effect all the
jet's systems, including the Multidimensional Navigation Radar. It should then
catapult us back to Megakat City.
   "What happens if this doesn't work?"
   "Well, one of three things could happen. One, we go back to Megakat City,
two, we end up in some other dimension or three, get blown to pieces. Now stop
bothering me, I need to think. Just be ready for my signal."
   The jet sped on as the other jets closed on them. At last they all reached
open sky, and the enemy jets opened fire on the Turbokat. T-Bone retured fire,
but there was too many of them. All the while, Eddy typed away relentlessly at
the keyboard. Finally, it was ready.
   "T-Bone: NOW!" T-Bone activated the afterburners and the jet shot forward,
leaving the other far behind. Eddy held his breath and pressed enter. The
missile exploded, and jet flashed a couple of times, then vanished. The other
jets suddenly found that they prey had disappeared. Perplexed, they searched,
but found nothing. After a minute of further searching, they concluded that
the jet had crashed into the sea. Satified, they returned to the rest of the
escape pods, and waited for rescue.
   
   Jake had just got back after an hours search in the canyon, and had found
nothing. The feeling dread had been getting worse since this morning as he'd
worked on Callie's car. Even her coming to pick it up hadn't lightened his
spirit. His best friend, and his new one were missing, and there no trace of
them anywhere. He sat down in the living room and stared at the blank tv
screen.

   The Turbokat appeared above a desert, and started a spiral turn towards the
ground. Both occupants had been knocked out, Eddy quickly regain himself, and
first thing that he saw was the ground rushing up to meet them. Without
thinking, he pressed a button on the computer, then grabbed the stick and
pulled on it. The jet responed and leveled off.
   Eddy was now panicing. Where on earth are they? And how the hell could he
fly the jet? He treated the jet as he did on the computer. The handling was
different, but he managed it. Now was to find out where they were.
   As if someone had been listening, the hills below flew away, and beyound
them was Megakat City. Eddy recognised Megakat Tower and City Hall, even from
this distance. Just then, T-Bone stirred, and looked out, seeing his home
city. Then he realised that they were flying forward, and he wasn't doing it.
   "Eddy?" he asked.
   "Yes, I'm flying this thing. Now can you please take control." T-Bone
thought it was strange how Eddy sometimes knew what he was going to ask
before he asked it. But instead of saying anything, he took control, and
pointed the jet back to the salvage yard. He was greatful that the newly
repaired radar scrambler was still working, even if that was one of the only
things that was. Within minutes, the salvage yard was below, so T-Bone opened
up the hanger enterence, glad to be home.

   Jake was lost in though when he heard the sound of jet. Rushing to the
window, he caught a glimpse of the Turbojet entering the hanger. With a whoop
of joy, he rushed down to the hanger. He arrived in time to see the jet
appearing on its raised platform. And from the looks of it, something HAD
happened to them. The under belly was scorched, and bullet marks littered the
back end.
   The two occupants jumped down, and Jake ran to greet them "T-Bone! Eddy!
What hap..." His words disappeared as he took a look at the two. T-Bone's
right arm was wrapped in blood soaked material from his flight suit. His lip
was cut, and there was dried blood in his fur. As he took of his helmet and
mask, Jake saw that his left eye was swollon and bruised badly.
   Eddy was no better. He wan't wearing any of the clothes Jake had seen him
in. Instead he wore a black military style uniform, with a cape. He was bent
double from pain, his face was bloodied and bruised, and he nursed a slash in
his left arm that still bled slightly. All in all, they'd looked better in the
past.
   "Holy kats!" exclaimed Jake. "What on Katopia happened?"
   "First things first, Jake. We both need the first aid kit. And asperins."
The three went up to the kitchen, Chance still in his flight suit. Him and
Eddy sat down at the table, while Jake helped them with their wounds. As he
did so, they explained what had happened.
   ".....and then we appeared above the desert, before making our way back
here," finished Eddy. However, he omited the part about him killing his
counterpart. Instead, he said he'd beat him into unconsciousness.
   Both him and Chance had bangages on their arms. Eddy had them over his
chest and back because his so bruised there and to cover the small cuts in
from the glass panal. Plasters covered various cuts over their faces, while
they both held cold cloths to their eyes.
   "Wow. So that's what happened to them," said Jake indicating their
counterparts.
   "Yeah. I don't want to ever see them again," Chance said.
   "We have to be on our guard, though," Eddy said.
   "Why?" Jake and Chance asked together.
   "The Empire has the information to make another portal device. They can
still easly come over here and try to take over. But after what we did, I
think they might think twice before they try."
   "Yeah, but if they do, we'll be ready for them," Jake exclaimed.
   The three sat there for a minute, before Chance turned to Eddy. "Well,
what'd ya think of your first Swat Kat mission?"
   Eddy looked at him puzzled. "My first what?"
   "Chance's right. You did help sink that ship, and get yourselves outta
there. You also flew the Turbokat. I'd say it was your first mission with the
Swat Kats."
   "Yes, you're right," Eddy beamed at them. "I DID help you. Well, what'd you
know? I'm a hero!"
   "I was thinking Jake. D'you think we should make he an honourary Swat Kat?"
   Jake grinned and looked at Chance. "Good idea. But do ya think he could
take it. I mean, he is still weak in the body. He might not be able to beat
Dark Kat in a fight."
   Eddy put his hands together in a mock beg. "Please? I could do weight
training, and you can teach me to fight and, and..."
   "Alright, you can be a Swat Kat." Chance loved to see him beg. It was quite
fun, in a sadistic way.
   "Yayyyy. Owww!" He stood up, and forgot about his chest.
   "But," Jake injected. "You have to have a code name, like us."
   "No problem. Let me think." He put his finger on his chin as he thought for
a name. "I've got it. Terran. That's my code name. Terran.
   "Why Terran?" asked Jake.
   "Because Terran is another name for human, that's why." Chance and Jake
looked at each other, then burst into laughter. Eddy joined. The three friends
sat at the table, laughing until their side hurt, not hard for two of them.
Finally they stopped, and aggreed it was time to see the damage to the jet. It
wasn't too bad, but take a while to fix. Eddy, Jake and Chance set about
making plans on who they would tackle the problems, and of Eddy's role in
their fight against crime.
   That night, Eddy was glad to be in his bed, but his mind turned back to
his counterpart's face as he stabbed him. He would never be able to accepted
the fact it was in self defence. It would haunt him until the day he himself
died. With that thought, he drifted into a deep sleep.

   However, evil did not rest. It stirred in the sewers under the city. A pair
of iluminous eyes look at the sky as the stars shone above. Soon, this city
would his. "Ssssoon, I will have the all the power I could ever want and not
even the Sssswat Katssss can sssstop me." His slithered deep into the heart of
the sewers, his crual, evil laughter echoing up into th streets. Soon......

To Be Continued.....