Hero's  Song
	by Javie Patag

	"And stay out!"
	The clash of overturned and spilled garbage cans filled a back
alley of Megakat City.  A large bouncer, giant-sized and muscular,
stepped into a doorway on one wall and slammed it shut, a message to
the kat just thrown out to suspend all thoughts of reentering.
	That kat slowly picked himself up and dusted the dirt and trash
off his none-too-clean body.  He was of medium build, though kind of
thin.  His fur was a patchwork, meaning he was a half-bred kat.  His
clothes were old, dirty and a little torn, but strong and
comfortable.  Black fur covered his scalp, and bright brown eyes
shined on his face.  His whiskers were a little in disarray.
	He slowly rummaged the trash for an item the bouncer threw out
with him.  Desperation crossed his face for an instant, then he
smirked a relieving smile:  before him lay an ancient, battered case,
the size of a small chest.  He picked it up, opened it, and examined
the contents.  Smiling, he closed the case, satisfied that the thing
inside sustained no damage.
	He started walking.  He frowned that he just lost another chance
at helping his unemployed condition, but, hey, that was what the
blues are all about.

	The Turbokat was snugly back in the underground hangar of the
SWAT Kats' headquarters.  Two kats stepped out of the jet.  They
smiled at each other.
	"May I have the honors?" asked Razor to T-Bone.
	Chance, who had just removed his mask, replied with a fanged,
happy grin.  "Certainly."
	As Razor removed his helmet and mask, he reached for a stamp.
Pressing it lightly on the stamp pad, he raised it, positioned it
carefully as a painter does, and pressed.
	Both looked at Razor's work, as well as all that accompanied it
on the wall.  Chance began, "Another kill mark for the SWAT Kats..."

	Dr. Viper slowly stalked his lab.  Another plot to conquer the
city foiled and he was not pleased.  Not at all.
	"It'ssss not fair!"  He swung his tail and smashed into one of
the tables in his lab.  Usually a plantanimal or another creature of
his creation would be the on to catch the blow, but for once, he was
alone.
	"Those meddling SSSSWAT Katssss have ruined another plan of
mine!"  He tried to relax himself by resting on a surviving table.
He thought and analyzed his situation.
	He had used up all his remaining creatures.  His plan was to bomb
the city with his creations.  The monsters would run amok, doing
untold damage and causing people to flee, leaving the city for his
taking.  They were almost beyond the touching of the Enforcers.
	But not the SWAT Kats.
	"Curses!"  Another table was smashed aside.  Thinking back, he
knew it was a straightforward plan not worthy of his genius, but the
situation demanded it.  The Enforcers had just tangled with an
assault led by the nefarious Pastmaster last week, so he knew that
the Enforcer arsenal was a little below standard.
	A chirping sound broke his reverie.  He looked around and spotted
a single creature in his lab.  
	Contained in a jar,  a cricket was singing the lonely song all
crickets sang.  He was a mix of brown and green.  And he seemed to be
paying attention to Viper's mood.
	"Ssshhhut up!" Viper demanded.  He was not in good spirits today.
	Besides this, Viper noticed a single chemical container besides
the cricket.  It was labeled X71.  It bore the subtitle Revolutionary
Adaptation Catalytic Enhancement, or RACE.  When he got the chemical,
he didn't have the time to test its capabilities.
	Viper frowned.  All his other catalysts were used up in the past
assault.  He had used them all up to create the large quantities of
creatures to raid Megakat city.  All he had now, was this promising,
yet experimental catalyst, still totally untested (he had "borrowed"
it at the Megakat City docks, from a shipment outside the city).  It
would take him weeks to mix up and replace the used up catalyst.
	But wait.  Viper was inspired.  It would also take the same
amount of time for the Enforcers to build up their lost defenses.
And the SWAT Kats did sustain a little damage from their last tangle
with him.
	"Yessss..."  Viper smiled his snake's smile.  He would launch
another immediate assault on the city.  No intentions to conquer,
just damage it as much as possible.  The Enforcers would be
hard-pressed to stop this plan with their weakened forces, and if the
plot failed, Viper would have had enough time to build up another
force of catalysts and creatures.  
	Besides, modern psychiatrists recommend this form of relaxation:
dishing out your frustrations on a symbol of it.
	He smiled and hissed away to work.

	Javier (hispanic for "Xavier") Pusa* marched down the wet streets
of Megakat City.  It was raining; that sure didn't help him and his
situation.
	He was without a job.  A poor, illegal immigrant in Megakat city,
he had no proper papers.  He left his homeland to find work
elsewhere.  The country he left behind was filled with poverty and
crime; he had no future there.  Arriving secretly in Megakat City, he
and his only possession wandered to find some hope for the future.
Sure, he had finished high school, plus a little music in college,
but other than that, he had only his musical instrument.
	Sitting in a dry alcove formed by the main entrance of a
dilapidated apartment, he rested his weary legs and rubbed his paws
together to warm them.
	"Sigh," he thought.  "I was always looking for inspiration for my
music and here it is.  This place is almost as bad as the place I
left.  Well, now I know what the blues masters meant by being
'down'."
	His sharp ears caught the sound of a TV being emitted from one of
the occupants of the apartment he was taking refuge in.  "...Today,
the SWAT Kats and Enforcers fought with Dr. Viper, the mad reptilian
scientist bent on the conquest of Megakat City.   Viper had released
a horde of mutant creatures around the north-eastern commercial
portion of the city.  Millions of dollars of property damage was
recorded, but our two mysterious vigilantes and Megakat City's finest
were able to repulse and destroy the attacking swarm.  This is Ann
Gora, Kat's Eye News."
	Sardonically, Javes (as people called him) whispered to himself,
"At least someone's having a good day."  His bitter facial expression
was slowly replaced by a sad smile.
	He gently opened his carrying case and took out the brass wind
contained inside it.  It was a baritone** , a mini-tuba.  It was a
brass wind instrument, much larger in mass than a trumpet and
trombone.  It was a little large and bulky, but its tone and sound
quality was rich and impressive.  Painful and sad memories entered
his mind as he handled it.  His poor family had sacrificed a lot just
to buy it for him, but they endured  it, since Javes' talent was
their hope of a better life.
	"A better life.  What nonsense," he sarcastically said to
himself.
	Slowly and gently oiling in parts and feeling the three valves,
he began to feel the notes in his mind form.  He knew what he was
going to play: the song of a harsh life, his own,  contrasted with
the glory of victory, of both the SWAT Kats and the Enforcers.  He
gently blew into the immense thing, closed his eyes, and let the
sweet, rich sound fill his mind...

	Jake and Chance were working in the garage.  Callie's car needed
repairing (again!) and both were giving it a fine tune-up.  It was
raining outside, and both were comfortable in the warm grease pit.
	"Jake, hand me the wrench, willya?"  Chance was immersed in his
work and had his elbows up in grease.  He felt Jake pass him
something in his paw, but immediately realized it was too light to be
a wrench.  He looked up, his face a comical sight since it was all
dirty with black tar and oil, and found a screwdriver in his grasp.
He looked at Jake who was not paying attention and looked as if in a
pleasant daydream.
	"Say, buddy," Chance sarcastically began, "forgotten what a
wrench is?"
	Jake instantly snapped out of it.  "Whoa.  Sorry, Chance, I was
just..."  There was  wistful quality to his eyes and voice,
"...listening..."
	Chance put on a confused, scrutinizing look.  "To what?"
	"Oh, just the sweet blues.  C'mon, listen."
	Chance stopped working and did exactly what Jake told him to do.
And he heard exactly what Jake meant.  A sweet symphony of rich notes
was in the air and it was hypnotizing in its quality.
	Chance began, "Say, not bad."
	Jake nodded, "Uh huh, the blues, Chance.  Rock and Roll may be
the spirit of adventure in Megakat City, but the blues is still its
sound and soul."
	Chance agreed with Jake's poetry, and both began to quietly work
again.

	Viper was glad it was night.  His newest creation, a rapidly
growing and shape-changing cricket was growing bigger and meaner by
the minute.  It was already the size of a large automobile and was
still becoming bigger.  Good thing for the darkness, or else Enforcer
chopper patrols would have spotted them instantly.
	He noticed it's carapace seemed much thicker than usual and knew
it was becoming tougher and tougher.  Also, he couldn't help
recognizing that the creature was becoming more restless and violent
as it grew and changed.  It almost attacked him after the first few
minutes of the infection, but he was fast (or lucky) enough to get a
mind control collar on it.  He had to be careful though; the collar
would probably run out of power soon.  Besides, the creature was
growing and growing, and soon the collar would break.
	But, he didn't care.  He already was in the darker portion of
Megakat City's south-western industrial area.  Soon, he would release
the cricket.
	He knew what its animosity would do.

	Javes was a little happy.  His playing had actually charmed the
landlady of the apartment to let him stay at one of the flats for the
night.  She said he could have free heating and that she'd fix him up
a meal for the night.  He didn't have her elaborate on tomorrow,
though.  He knew not to push the envelope.
	Still, this was an improvement.  He had a home for the night, a
dinner consisting of a sleazy, yet delectable tuna and beans soup and
a warm place all for himself.  Also, people passing by heard his
playing and decided to give the talented musician some cash.  He had
actually accumulated a good hundred bucks.
	He sat on the bed provided in the flat.  Taking out a music
notebook, he began to compose a new work.  He entitled it "Tomorrow's
Dawn", symbolizing hope for a better day.  Slowly fingering the
baritone, he played softly to himself.  The beautiful notes wafted
through the room.  No one heard, except those near his flat and
outside the apartment's window.

	Viper was once again angry.  His newfound pet had suddenly ceased
being restless and began to chirp.  Fortunately, they were located
near the abandoned industrial areas, so no one heard.  But the fact
that his new creation had suddenly changed its mood was no good for
Viper's intentions.
	"My precioussss, what's the matter?  You're ssuppossed to be
angry, violent, exssstreme!"
	Of course, Viper could do nothing to change the mind of a pet the
size of a small house.

	"Kat's alive, it's three AM."
	Javes had been playing and composing all night.  He was tired,
despite his incredible stamina, but the he had somehow managed to
give him energy for his composition.  He looked down on his notebook
and read through his new selection.  Satisfied, he closed it and
placed it in his case.  He took his instrument and then loaded it
into the container, then closed it.
	He yawned and quietly rested on the bed.  He was filled with
optimism since things began to become better for him.
	Slowly, his eyes closed.  Javes soon fell into a quiet,
dream-filled sleep.

	Viper had calmed down.  His creature was once again restless and
angry.  Whatever fit it had earlier had left no trace.
	"Yesss, my preciousss sssinger...  Enrage yourssself!!!"  He
adjusted the control knob of the creature's collar and increased the
pain setting.  The cricket howled in agony and got madder.
	"Yessss...  Sssoon, the anger will totally overcome you and you
will deliver it upon the ssccity..."
	He chuckled a totally chilling laugh and waited.  He would strike
at dawn...

	"All Enforcers, to your posts!  Man your engines!"
	An alert had been raised around Enforcer HQ.  It was past six,
and only a few early kats and the tired night shift were there.
Still, as vigilant as ever, massive numbers of Enforcers moved to
their tanks, choppers and jets (a big portion of the choppers were
under repair or being scrapped since their last battle).
	Feral stood wide awake in the control center of the tower.
Reports had just come in that a giant, mutated cricket had just
attacked the industrial areas of Megakat City, and that untold havoc
was being wrought.
	"Is my chopper ready?" he asked a mechanic as he traveled to the
hangar  of the HQ.  The tired mechanic yawned an affirmation, which
Feral didn't exactly like.  Enforcers should always be alert...
	"And where is my niece?"
	"Right... here... uncle..."
	Feral turned to see a drowsy, shabbily dressed Felina.  She
appeared tired and totally lacking sleep.
	"Hmph.  Felina, I thought you were a model Enforcer.  Just look
at yourself," he criticized Felina.  He was happy though, since her
condition would keep her out of danger for today.
	"I'm not... a morning person... like you, uncle," she replied
sluggishly.
	"Very well.  Stay here, while we handle this."  He coldly turned
and went for his waiting chopper, which had just again been refit
since its last crash.
	As his chopper began to move, Felina suddenly realized something.
"Waitaminit!  He's going to leave me in the boring dust again?"
	Felina suddenly was active.  She barked orders to the technicians
to get her a chopper pronto, which was no easy task since most of the
remaining choppers were under repair.
	"I'm no kitten, uncle..."

	"Get up, Chance!  A giant cricket is tearing up the industrial
area of Megakat City!"
	Chance was asleep.  It had been a long night fixing Callie's car
and he was totally worn out.  He snored loudly, then rolled over on
his bed, turning away from Razor.  Jake was already dressed up for
the mission, but Chance was still definitely out of it.
	"Maybe a little psychology..." Razor thought.  He bent over to
Chance's ear and quietly whispered:
	"The thing's heading off in the direction of City Hall and
Enforcer HQ.  Callie and Felina live nearby.  They're in danger..."
	Suddenly, Chance was up and running off into the hangar.  Razor
was left in the dust.  All he heard was a simply cry:
	"C'mon, sleepyhead!  Callie and Felina's in danger!  Let's kick
tail!"

	Viper was very pleased.  Very, very pleased...
	His creation was doing better than expected.  Evolution and
adaptation are two very powerful biological forces.  He watched them
both at work as his cricket rapidly mutated according to the need.
If it was to tear down a building, the RACE in its blood system gave
it extra large forelegs to batter it down.  When the Enforcers
arrived and attacked it, it mutated to have the deadly claws of a
praying mantis, a larger, more powerful muscular system, as well as
enhanced carapace.
	As Viper watched from his sewer sanctuary. He laughed as the
thing tore Enforcer jets, tanks and choppers apart, throwing them
aside.  He laughed his trademarked hissing laughter as the thing did
incredible amounts of destruction.
	"My ssscheme is working better than I thought...  Perhapssss I
may turn Megakat Cccity into Megassswamp Cccity yet!"  He marched off
back to his lab to prepare for his future assault on the city.  All
that followed him was hissing laughter.

	"Mr. Pusa?"
	The knocking on the flat door woke Javes up.  He rushed to the
door, recognizing the voice of Mrs. Coon, the old landlady of the
apartment.  He opened it and saw a worried old woman.  Behind her,
several kats, all occupants of the apartment rushing to and fro with
packed bags and luggage.
	"What's happening?  Mrs. Coon, what's all the commotion about?"
asked a tired, sleepy Javes.
	"A giant monster's tearing up the area.  According to the news
reports, it's headin' here!  Everyone's being evacuated by the
Enforcers while there's still time!"
	Immediately, Javes dressed himself and packed his most precious
possession, his baritone.  He escorted old Mrs. Coon to her flat to
help her and the other occupants move out.

	"Man, that's one ugly cricket, if I ever saw one," T-Bone
muttered, as the Turbokat got visual contact.
	"Affirmative buddy.  According to the police band, it's totally
ripping apart the Enforcers there," replied Razor, listening in on
the comm. lines of the MCPD.
	"Then, it's up to us!"  T-Bone pushed the overdrive in the
Turbokat.  The roar of engines filled the air.

	"Lt. Feral!"
	Felina looked behind her and saw Dr. Konway approaching her.  She
was about to board the chopper the mechanics scrapped up for her when
Konway came.
	"I've got good news and bad news, lieutenant," Konway said,
concern in his eyes.
	"I'll have the good news first," said Felina.  She was rushing to
get down to business since the Enforcers in the field were being
kicked around.
	"The creature is not moving anywhere.  Your uncle's Enforcers are
keeping it at bay..."
	"And the bad news?"
	"Your uncle's down and his units are being eaten up.  He just
requested chopper backup."
	Felina sighed.  She knew her uncle would need her.

	"Let's go, Mayor," urged Callie.  She was at the Mayor's
residence.  She was able to wake up when the news reports flowed in
about the behemoth cricket and had rushed to pick up the Mayor.
	"But Callie, my best clubs are still inside my kondominium,"
pleaded a desperate Manx.
	"The thing's already on its way here!"  At that moment, both
heard a monstrous roar.  Both turned to see the approaching giant
insect down the street.
	"What're you waiting for, Callie?  Let's get out of here!"
Callie was surprised to see the Mayor already in the limo.

	T-Bone and Razor approached the giant cricket, swiftly but
cautiously.  Another Enforcer chopper had just taken a mighty beating
and was performing an emergency crash landing.  Fortunately, backup
had just arrived, under Lt. Feral's command.
	"Razor, you got something to take this thing down?" T-Bone asked.
He was wondering what they could use against such a giant menace.
	"Roger.  I wonder just how tough its carapace is," Razor
answered.  He flicked on a switch.  The Turbokat's targeting computer
showed a lock on the thing's shoulder, right above one of the Mantis'
claws.
	"Away, Slicer Missiles!"  Two slicers launched simultaneously
from the jet.  As they approached, the SWAT Kats watched as the
safety panels flew off and the missiles' claws deployed.
	The cricket had seen the advancing missiles but it was too late.
It desperately defended itself, shattering one missile before it hit,
but the other dug deeply into the shoulder.  It didn't slice through,
but stuck deeply in the wound until its fuel was used up.  The
cricket screamed in pain.
	"Bingo!  It may be tough, but not tough enough!" Razor exclaimed.

	Felina cheered quietly as the SWAT Kats hit the cricket.  It was
their first successful attack on the thing.  Analyzing the situation,
she realized that to avoid getting hit by the cricket, the Enforcers
could just simply stay out of range of its claws and just use their
missiles and guns from afar to take the creature apart from afar.
	She tuned into the Enforcer band.  "This is Lt. Felina Feral.
Chopper B, search and rescue my uncle.  Chopper C, follow me in
long-range attack formation.  All Enforcer units!  The SWAT Kats have
just revealed the thing's weakness.  Stay out of range and just hit
the thing with everything we've got!"
	The Enforcers quickly complied.  The tanks below stopped their
approach and just fired from their distant positions.  Helicopters
swung around the things, fire blazing from their dual machine guns
and missile launch pods.
	Down below, a bruised Feral boarded an Enforcer helicopter.  He
realized that his niece, despite her stubbornness, had the stuff that
made good commanders.  Still, some of the choppers were too close to
the thing and the cricket was still able to slash one even with
Felina's tactic.  He frowned, immediately took control of his
rescuing chopper, and piloted it to the assault.

	Above, the SWAT Kats watched as the Enforcers batted the thing
down.  The cricket looked in pain, and Razor was moved to pity.
"Crud, look at that cruelty..."
	T-Bone responded.  "Don't forget, buddy, that the thing was
tearing up the city..."  He was down-to-earth, but still realized
Razor had a point.
	Razor suddenly reacted.  "T-Bone!  Something's happening to the
cricket!"
	T-Bone looked out and saw that the cricket's carapace was
suddenly melting and bulging.  The Enforcer units had ceased all
their fire at the spectacle.  T-Bone was sickened as he watched, but
the thing, as well as healing all its previous wounds, seemed to be
growing stuff all around its body...
	"What the..." T-Bone asked, mesmerized.  "Spines?"
	The cricket's carapace had suddenly grown segmented spines.  They
were spread out like a porcupine's but were insect-like.  They waved
and moved like vile animated hairs.
	And suddenly, they straightened up and pointed in a myriad of
directions.
	And they launched through the air.

	Felina narrowly avoided having her chopper being skewered by a
spine.  She saw other Enforcers units doing the same, but others
weren't as alert or lucky.  Several choppers were impaled by the
spines, as was the heavily armored tanks down below.  She watched as
her uncle gracefully avoided all the spines hurled at him, though his
chopper was still scratched and damaged, one machine gun being
rendered inoperative.  
	She turned her attention back to the chopper and triggered her
guns in return fire.  The bullets smashed into the thing, but she
could only watch as the shells were pushed out of the wounds by the
creature's 
	healing abilities, and that the holes in the carapace were
covered up by new keratin.  Also, the spines that had been fired off
were growing back.  And very quickly.
		Horrified, she watched as the thing pointed its mantis claw
at her.  All the spines there suddenly straightened up and fired at
her.
		Her chopper jarred as one spine tore her rotor engine open.
Another opened the side of the chopped like a tin can.  She rushed
off her seat as a spine smashed through the windshield and impaled
the chair were she was seating earlier.  She rolled in the cabin and
felt the entire thing shudder as more spines hit it.

		The SWAT Kats were horrified at the sight of Felina's chopper
being hit by a hail of flying spikes, but it was T-Bone who took it
worst.  He screamed and dived the Turbokat straight for the cricket.
Razor was silent as T-Bone took control of the weapons systems.  As
soon as the computer got a lock on the thing, he fired everything the
Turbokat had, from the Cement Gun to normal concussion missiles.
However, the spines on the carapace took the blunt of the attack.
Even worse, the cricket was now very mad...
		Razor was shocked.  Hi best pal was enraged and berserk.  And
the cricket was turning to face them.
		The Turbokat rocked and shook as a hail of spines tore it up.
T-Bone had snapped out of his rage and had practiced evasive
maneuvers, but the spines took their toll and the Turbokat was
heavily damaged.  Razor watched as every warning light shined on the
shattered damage control panel.  He looked out and saw several spines
decorating a partially perforated jet.

		As the chopper began to fall, Felina saw her uncle's chopper
move alongside her own.  The rope ladder was engaged, and she saw he
uncle appear.  He shouted, "Felina, jump."
		As the chopper neared an abandoned building, Felina crouched
close to the ground.  She waited for the best opportunity to escape.
The building was getting close.
		She soon was flying through the air, without even a parachute
to save her if she didn't catch the ladder.  She felt shock waves
ripple behind her as her damaged helicopter smash into the building.
		Everything seemed to be in slow motion.  She watched as the
ladder slowly slip away from her.  She was hovering above so many
floors of height...
		Her paw grasped one of the last few rungs or rope and she
managed to hold on.  Her other paw as well as legs were able to grab
hold.  Feral swerved the chopper away from the cricket to safety.

		Javes watched the Enforcers ferry out the evacuees and slowly
turned to observe the battle.  He was at the rooftop, watching the
battle.  He had decided to stay behind to make sure the apartment was
empty.
		As he looked on, he saw that the fight was not going well for
the Enforcers and SWAT Kats.  The cricket had regained the upper hand
once more and was fighting ferociously.
		But Javes didn't condemn the thing.  He sympathized with it.
He knew that if he was also in that situation, he too would fight
back viciously.  He knew the anger of the thing very well.
		He was once again inspired.  He knew this was no time for a
song, but he could barely contain himself.
		He blew and pressed into his baritone.  Violent, harsh and
moving notes filled the air.  As his "Rage's Shout" filled the air,
the cricket approached.

		"Razor!"
		Razor was busy trying to manage the damage control systems on
the Turbokat.  He barely had time to reply.
		"I'm losing power!  The jet's gonna crash!"  T-Bone was
worried and so was Razor.  T-Bone had never ever admitted that the
jet was about to crash before...
		Razor didn't have time to respond.  He was busy managing the
jet's systems.
		"Razor..."  Razor felt the engines go kaput, and gravity
beginning to grasp the Turbokat.
		As abrupt as the engines going out, the Turbokat suddenly was
back online.  T-Bone reacted and pulled it up from the ground.  Razor
breathed a sigh of relief, then spoke: "T-Bone, I've manage to
temporarily shut off the worst of the spine's effects.  But we have
to get back in the hangar to repair the systems.  Everything's gone
but some primary and secondary systems, the X-ray Scope, and some
Smokescreen*** Missiles."  He breathed deeply then continued.  "Also,
if your sorry about going berserk, save it.  I understand how much
you care about Felina..."
		A tear went down T-Bone's cheek.  He wiped it off and was
once again his confident, tough self.  "Roger that..."

		"Commander!  Lieutenant!"
		Felina quickly responded to Dr. Konway's voice on the radio.
"I pick you up, HQ."
		"Commander, from the clips on TV, I think that the cricket is
some sort of mutant, not some existing creature.  I think I can whip
up an anti-mutagen, but I can't recognize which chemical is at work
here."
		"What do you need, doctor?"  Feral was anxious to get the job
done as quickly as possible.
		"I need a sample.  A sample of the creature's cells."

		The Turbokat swung around the cricket.  The X-ray Scope was
recording the cricket on a tape.  Razor had suggested filming the
thing so that both could analyze and devise a method to attack the
thing while avoiding the spines.
		Felina's voice came over the police band.  They were hailing
the SWAT Kats, and their tone of voice betrayed some hope.
		"Yes, Lieutenant Feral," Razor responded.
		"SWAT Kats, we need help.  Dr. Konway seems to have figured
out how to knock out the creature, but we need a sampling of the
creature's system."
		Both SWAT Kats nodded.  A plan was discussed over the radio.
The Turbokat flew around and rendezvoused with the Ferals' chopper.

		Javes felt the notes of his new composition as they filled
the air.  He was reaching a crescendo, as the notes got higher and
higher...  He was at the climax of the song...

		Both could barely believe it.  The cricket just suddenly
froze.  It just stood their and began to rub its legs together to
make a song.  They were completely taken by surprise at the action
of the cricket, wondering what it was up to.  A few seconds of shock
passed...
	"Now!"  T-Bone had awakened from his wonder and decided to seize
the moment to his advantage.  The other snapped out of it.
		At the command of T-Bone, both aircraft fired several
missiles at the cricket.  The cricket parried the shots by launching
some spines and simply swatting the projectile with its claws, but it
didn't notice all the gas covering up the scene.  It went into a
tantrum, swinging and firing at nothing.  It didn't notice the
Feral's chopper lining up for a shot at a distance, as the Turbokat
swept in.
		A salvo of gunfire and missiles blanketed the joint of one
claw.  The bullets and missiles were able to get through since all
the spines there had been released.  Thanks to Feral's pinpoint
accuracy, the joint was torn apart.  The claw fell top the ground
below.  Two screams filled the air: the scream of an enraged cricket,
and the scream of jet engines.  As the dismembered  claw neared the
ground, two mechanical paws snatched it up.  Meeting up with the
Enforcer chopper, both jet and helicopter left for the Enforcer
building.

		Javes was panting.  He had just finished his latest
composition and was glad.  After recalling the notes he had just
played and committing them to memory, he looked and saw that the SWAT
Kats and Enforcers were bugging out of the fight, and realized he had
better do the same.  He rushed off the roof, raced down the small
apartment, and caught the nearest Enforcer patrol vehicle.

		The Turbokat carefully dropped the severed appendage of the
cricket onto the Enforcer HQ's runway.  It wasn't flying well and all
that shuddering from the damage it carried wasn't making it an easy
job.  Down below, Felina, Callie, Mayor Manx and Commander Feral
watched as the SWAT Kats proceeded with their work.  As soon as the
sickening arm was safely onboard, the SWAT Kats began to position
themselves to head home.
		"We'll keep in touch!" shouted Callie to the departing SWAT
Kats.
		"We'll be listening.  That thing's on a rampage and its good
it's still in the industrial sector of the city.  Good thing whoever
made the creature apparently doesn't have any direct control over it,
or it would have picked off prime targets like Enforcer HQ."  Razor
waved.  T-Bone closed the canopy hatch and began to maneuver the
damaged Turbokat home.
		"Hmp!" mumbled Feral.  "Those craven vigilantes probably
won't return!"
		Callie retorted, "They will!  They've saved the city a
hundred times and they aren't ready to quit yet!"  The two were at it
again at the old Feral-SWAT Kat debate.
		Dr. Konway appeared, eager to examine the dismembered arm.
He brushed straight through the crowd with words, saying "Excuse me,"
and "I'm busy here."  Enforcers came with him and began to carry the
arm back into the building.
		One of the Enforcers approached Feral.  He interrupted the
debate and reported.  "Sir, we've evacuated the people of the
industrial sector and relocated them down below.  We've also
fortified Enforcer HQ and City Hall, though are units are mainly here
and the surrounding area.  The thing's still berserk downtown, but we
can catch our breath since it doesn't appear to be moving anywhere."
		Feral nodded in approval.  "Good!  Continue in your work,
Enforcer!"  The young kat saluted Feral and went on to help the
carrying of the insect arm.
		Dr. Konway called the attention of the group.  "While I work,
perhaps you all can help by watching the news reports and researching
with me.  If we're to save the city, we'd better do it quickly."
		Felina replied, "You're right, Doctor.  Where do we start?"
As she asked, the group went inside to the crime and chemical labs.

		Jake and Chance worked hurriedly on the Turbokat.  The damage
was extensive, but good ol' ingenuity allowed the repairs to be
quick, provided that they were not exactly state-of-the-art.  The two
had to improvise a lot.
		Over on one side of the hangar was a TV screen connected to
the X-ray Scope.  It was showing the footage shot before the SWAT
Kats and the Ferals left the scene.
		Jake got up from his work, wiped his forehead and breathed
deeply.  Both were boggled why the cricket suddenly stopped attacking
them and gave them a chance to catch it off guard.  They realized
that perhaps this was the key in defeating it.
		Chance was inside the jet, doing internal repairs.  He
stopped, suddenly gazed up and listened.  He shouted to the outside
of the Turbokat, "Hey Jake!  What's that music being played outside?"
		"Music?  Chance, you're hearing things!" Chance replied
sarcastically.  He knew inside, though, that he had better listen.
Whereas he was the intellectual, Chance was the perceptive one.
		"No!  It's part of the footage!"  Upon this realization,
Chance launched himself out of the jet and in front of the screen.
"It's definitely from the footage!" he announced.
		Jake reacted quickly.  He climbed into his seat, almost at
the speed of thought. He quickly scanned for the Scope's controls and
found them.  Quickly, he rewound the footage.  He then turned off the
visual feed and isolated the audio.
		Both could now here the music.  Jake realized that by
watching the video he was distracted and didn't catch the sound.
Still, the music they heard was weak.
		"I'll try isolating the sound..."  Jake went into his work.
		Jake found himself in the audio menu.  He had the Scope's
computer separate the sounds.  He then isolated each one until both
identified it as the music.  "Bingo!"  He had successfully segregated
it.
		It was definitely not the sound of crashing choppers,
collapsing buildings, exploding missiles or enraged crickets.  It was
moving, emotion-filled music and it sounded very familiar.
		"Didn't we here that kind of instrument before, Jake?" asked
Chance, puzzled over where he heard it before.
		"Of course!" Jake remembered.  "When we were fixing Callie's
car last night!  Someone was playing the blues on that kind of
instrument!"
		"Hhmmm...  Same style, same sound, just a different song."
He listened closely to the music and was moved by the violent
playing.  "And it fits the bill too..."

		Konway was busy and quietly working in the Enforcer chemical
lab.  Around him, Feral and Manx were hitting every book they found
that had info on crickets, while Callie and Felina watched news clips
of the attack over and over again.
		It was hard work.  The books both Feral and Manx (who wasn't
serious about the research) read were about crickets, not about
dealing with giant, rampaging mutants.  There was no evident pattern
on the cricket's behavior according to the footage.  The catalyst
Konway was dealing with was totally new and unknown to him.  Everyone
felt great amounts of frustration, despondence and fear.  Only Manx
was unaffected since he knew that the SWAT Kats would do something...
he hoped.
		Konway's assistant came into the lab.  He passed by the TV
sets and tape decks Felina and Callie were watching.  As he passed,
the clip showed the instant the cricket froze.
		He paused.  He then turned towards the two girls.  "Say, I
just heard all that a few moments ago."
		Callie and Felina turned towards the kat, puzzled.  "What?"
Callie asked.
		"That sound in the background.  You know, that instrument
being played.  I think it's...  Whaddaya call it?...  A baritone.
Anyway, someone downstairs plays an instrument that sounds just like
that, on the tape."
		Felina swiftly took to the audio controls.  She fingered
through them.  As the sounds died one by one, only a single note
could be heard: a bassy, rich brass wind sound.
		Feral had been watching the events as they took place.
"Hmmm...  I just read that the cricket's mating call is done by
music."  He reached for an intercom line in the lab.  "Forensics, get
me a tape of a cricket's mating call and a sound synthesizer, on the
double.  What?  I don't care where you get the tape, just do it!"  He
slammed the intercom back into place.  Turning to the lab assistant,
he inquired,  "Where did you hear that?"
		"Commander, one of the evacuees downstairs plays an
instrument.  It produces a sound like the one on the tape," he
replied.  "I, uh, was visiting my mother downstairs.  She's one of
the evacuees and said that the musician is one of her new tenants,"
he sheepishly said.  He was hoping that he wasn't giving trouble to
the cool kat who played the brass wind nor his mother.
		"Felina, accompany this kat downstairs.  He just gave us a
lead in this case..."
		An Enforcer suddenly arrived to report to Feral.  "Sir!  The
cricket's begun moving again!"
		Feral rose quickly to interrogate the Enforcer.  "In what
direction?
		"Sir, towards the heart of the city...  To Enforcer HQ."

		The SWAT Kats were flying towards the HQ.  They knew that
they had the key to all this.  After hearing that the cricket was
once again on the move, they rushed in, hoping they would arrive on
time.

		"So, you have the ability to control giant mutants, eh?"
		Javes was sweating and worried.  Kat's alive, what did this
loony Enforcer commander want from him?  If the guy's saying he was
responsible, he must be out of his mind.
		Of course, Javes couldn't do a thing about it.  Here he was
in the interrogation room of Enforcers HQ.  Feral and an Enforcer
were in the room with him, ready to beat the crud out of his mangy
body.  They had confiscated his baritone and had used their
information database to find out about him.  They knew he was an
illegal alien and he knew he was in hot water.
		"Tell me, how do we stop this thing!?"  Feral had hoisted the
poor beleaguered Javes up into the air and was about to whack him.
		"Look..." he began.  "I don't know what your talking about...
I admit I'm an illegal immigrant, but I'm also just a musician.  I
don't have a thing to do with the monster..."  Perspiration ran down
his temples and he braced himself for Feral's punch.
		Suddenly the door behind Feral opened up and in stepped
Felina, Callie and Dr. Konway.  Felina stopped her uncle from hitting
the poor kat and quickly told him of their findings.  "Uncle, we
adjusted the sound of the cricket's call as if it came from a
building-high source..."
		Feral was impatient.  "And..."
		"It sounds just like Mr. Pusa's instrument, though we're not
sure since no one else but him plays that kind of brass wind here.
We also inspected his baritone.  It's normal in every way."
		Javes' eyes opened up wide.  "You took... it apart?"  He
feared the worst.
		Callie reassured him.  "Relax, Mr. Pusa.  We only ran it
through an examination by probe, CAT scan and X-ray.  It's okay."
		Javes breathed a short-lived sigh of relief.  Feral quickly
questioned, "That doesn't mean he's innocent of controlling it."
		Dr. Konway cut in.  "Commander, according to my calculations
and research, his music matching the cricket mating call is purely
coincidental."  Javes relaxed as Konway continued.  "Also, I've
isolated the chemical mutagen.  It's X71 or Revolutionary Adaptation
Catalytic Enhancement.  It was made to rapidly induce physical
adaptation in a targeted creature.  A shipment was sent in a few
months ago, but it disappeared."
		"Hairballs, things don't disappear by themselves," said a
frustrated Commander Feral.
		"Yes, sir.  An eyewitness claims it was stolen, but we don't
have enough evidence to throw the book at anyone," Konway explained.
		"Who did the eyewitness say it was?" Felina asked.
		"Dr. Viper."

		"Engines powering up...  Let's rock!"
		The newly-repaired Turbokat began its acceleration within the
underground hangar of the SWAT Kats' base.  T-Bone slowly increased
power and thrust to the engines.  They moved quickly, as dozens of
hangar lights passed above them.  Before them was the gentle sunlight
of the afternoon, as the gantry doors opened.  
	Razor noted that it was a good thing they worked overtime.  The
cricket had suddenly decided to assault the heart of the city, and
their repairs had finished just in time.  They would be in the air
just in time to catch the monster before it reached Enforcer HQ.

	Feral led the ground force of specially-equipped tanks, while his
niece led the few remaining choppers from the air.  Dr. Konway was at
the verge of creating the anti-mutagen, but the distillation would
take time.  The Enforcers had no choice but to attempt to delay the
cricket, before it reached Enforcer HQ.  There was nothing between
the HQ and the monster.
	Feral was confident.  They had made a long, repeated recording of
Jave's playing and several tanks and choppers were carrying audio
megaphones to project into the cricket.  If everything went according
to plan, the cricket would find itself paralyzed by its own instinct-
to follow the mating call of it's species.
	Felina, on the other hand, was not assured of this.  While her
uncle had the military attitudes raised by being an Enforcer, she was
more intuitive and adventurous, more independent and flexible, having
raised a detective's ideals within.  She just had the hunch something
would go wrong...
	Visual contact was soon made.  The giant was slowly rampaging
through the main streets of Megakat City, firing spines and hacking
with giant mantis claws.  Also, it had grown a barbed tail, similar
to that of a scorpion's, but it had more spines.  There was one main,
large one in the center and its top had an opening of some sort...
	Feral didn't like that.  From what Konway could brief him
regarding the RACE, he remembered that the creature will rapidly
mutate to adapt according to its needs.  "Hairballs," Feral thought,
"I don't need some insectoid wrecking ball to deal with along with
the rest of the creature".
	Feral suddenly saw a salvo of spines being launched.  Felina and
her detachment dodged quickly, not one of them being damaged, all of
them wisely vigilant.  He didn't relax however.  The thing was still
at a distance when it fired its spines.  He realized that the
creature now had heightened eyesight.
	Ducking inside, he asked the tank driver, "What's the maximum
range of these megaspeakers?"
	The young enforcer quickly replied, "Sir, about a few blocks, and
it's still loud at that range."
	Feral concluded, "Good," then reached for the radio.  "All units
prepare to activate your recordings on my signal.  Open up your
megaspeakers and synchronize your timing with mine."
	As Feral looked up, he watched as the cricket began moving
towards the Enforcers, claws stretching and animated, tail slithering
and scintillating.  The spines were ready to launch, but Feral
realized that it was itching to get into close combat with them.  It
was bent low like a predator.
	He looked back as he pressed a button.  The missile rack of the
tank had been replaced by a large, rectangular megaphone, as was
other tanks.  The choppers led by Felina had two smaller speakers
attached to their sides.
	Feral noted the distance.  The thing was a good five blocks and
closing.  As they moved closer, the cricket seemed to move faster and
faster...
	"Now!"  Feral closed down the turret hatch as the megaphone
behind him blasted to life simultaneously with others.  Felina had
closed down the openings of her chopper, as did the rest of her
squadron.  They activated their speakers with the rest of the ground
force.  
	The large bassy sound filled an entire section of Megakat City;
it was even heard way back in Enforcer HQ.  Feral and the driver saw
through the tank's view screens that entire city blocks were shaking
and vibrating.  He gazed at the monster.
	It was frozen.  It stood up, reared on its two pairs of hind
legs.  Its claws and tails were held out straight and stiff,
trembling with paralysis.  The plan had worked...
	Suddenly, spines were launched and several choppers were shot
down, several tanks were gorged.  Feral's driver barely had time to
swerve the command tank to avoid the barrage, but the tank was still
hit.  Feral winced as he heard a loud, earsplitting explosion, much
like the whine of a broken amplifier, and the explosion of a missile.
The noise died down, as the driver informed him that most of the
tank's electrical systems had been disconnected.  Feral feared the
worst.  He climbed up, opened the hatch and saw a shattered
megaphone.
	An enraged Feral commanded the remaining operational units to
open fire.  As his tank went into battle formation, he prepared to
fire the twin guns of the tank.
	A volley of shells peppered the cricket.  A cannonade of missiles
launched from the helicopters and covered the monster in explosions.
	As the smoke cleared, the sight was not pretty, but quite
heartening for the Enforcers.  Several spines were broken, much
carapace was cracked or stripped away, and the cricket was wounded.
Feral and his Enforcers cheered, but not for long...
	The cricket was healing... regenerating...  New carapace suddenly
replaced the damaged portions, spines grew back and the cricket was
back on its four feet.  It didn't look happy.
	Spines were launched and Feral's forces were badly mauled.  One
tank was totally ripped up and covered in spines; its crew barely
escaped its explosion.  Feral's tank did no better; the right track
was torn up and the tank, except its turret, was, ironically,
paralyzed like the cricket earlier.  Feral ordered the driver to man
the twin cannons while he radioed HQ.  "Send me chopper backup..."

	Javes was seated at the control center of Enforcer HQ.  There, he
would pose no trouble to the few Enforcers manning the tower.  He
heard the communications kat talking to Feral and didn't like what he
heard.  Feral's force was down and the ploy didn't work.
		Javes thought hard, wondering why the cricket attacked them
when it should not.  He was no scientist, but no slouch in the
knowledge department either.  Theoretically, the recording should
have worked.  They were exact duplicates of his music and should have
frozen the thing in the beauty of a mating call...
		He then drifted.  What if science wasn't the answer?  He
thought again.
		Bingo!  He suddenly realized what went wrong.  The necessary
course of action was desperate, but he had no choice.  If he didn't
do something, Megakat City would be destroyed, along with his hopes
for a better life.  He couldn't allow that.  Even if most of the city
dealt him harshly, like the bouncer at the nightclub, some were good
kats and good citizens like the kind old landlady who gave him a
place to stay.
		He was a stealthy kat.  Silently, he took his baritone and
walked towards the fire exit.  As quiet and as quick as a shadow, he
was gone, and not one Enforcer realized his disappearance until it
was too late.

		"Sir, bad news.  Your illegal immigrant is gone."
		Feral slammed his fist down as he heard the news, the crunch
almost as loud as the cannon volley outside.  "What do you mean he's
gone!?"
		"Sir, he was quiet.  We didn't notice him vanishing in the
control center.  Later, we had a report that one of the evacuees
stole a patrol car.  The description matches him, sir, down to his
instrument."
		"Crud.  So he's gone and with him our hope of saving the
city."
		"Not exactly sir.  The car was reportedly going in your
direction."
		Feral was puzzled.  He wondered what motive Javes had for
doing such a thing.
		His pondering was cut short as a deafening, screeching sound
filled the tank's interior.  The driver was soon down below, panting.
Another loud reverberation filled the tank.  The radio went dead and
Feral was horrified to find spikes piercing the tank deeply.  They
had gone straight through the hull and even managed to smash the
radio.  What frightened him more was that a few more inches and it
would have gone through him.
		The driver was almost catatonic.  "Sir, the guns are down!
That last fusillade did it!"
		Feral grabbed the two personnel bazookas in the tank, handing
one to the frightened driver.  The driver almost dropped it in
fright.  Disgusted, Feral shoved him aside to be the first one out.
"This coward's almost out of it, he pondered, "I'd better cover him
so that at least he can get away."
		Feral's head poked out of the hatch when he saw it.  He
yelled "Get down!", pushing the driver down the ladder.  As he
ducked, a thick, sticky, and pasty webbing covered the entire tank.
		Feral looked up and saw the web covering the hatch.  He
looked through the view screen and saw that everywhere on the tank
was this sticky web.  He was trapped.  He pushed against it, but was
soon stuck fast.  It took him a great amount of effort just to
release himself from the web.
		A sudden rumbling, followed by rapid movement of the tank,
occurred.  Both Feral and his driver were disoriented, as if they
were riding a runaway elevator.  They tumbled within the tank's
compartment as the thing was tipped to a side several times.  It was
as gravity had gone wild.  Feral looked around and covered his ears
as metal began to crush and bend around them.  He carefully, but
swiftly,  rushed to an opening and saw the worst.  He first saw a
spine-covered claw on the outside.  Behind the claw was the ground,
about four stories below.
		Suddenly, an entire side of the tank was ripped from it.  The
driver went panicky, but Feral stayed calm, though he was really
worried.  Before both driver and commander, a vicious, insect head
reared, mandibles quivering.  It opened its mouth, pulsing with
acidic saliva, which really sickened Feral.  
	"So, you're hungry, eh?" asked Feral as he positioned himself,
holding and setting his missile launcher.  "Chew on this, insect!"
	The blast almost fried the two Enforcers since it was almost at
point-blank range for a bazooka.  The thing screamed as the missile
entered its mouth and detonated.  Smoke covering its head, the
creature dropped the tank and its two passengers.  Both the commander
and the driver were separated from the tank in the freefall, with the
tank above them.  Though, as kats, they could probably land properly
and avoid the worst of such a fall, the tank would probably crush
them... 

	Viper had his TV turned on as he cheerfully worked to make more
chemicals for the production of his creatures.  He was very pleased.
His creature was tearing up the city in a performance far beyond his
expectations.  He laughed as distant TV crew reported as the disaster
went tearing up Megakat City.
	"Ssssoon, the ccccity will be mine..."

	The swoop of jets was heard, and a missile connected to a line
dived down.  Its warhead safety panels were released and a dozen
thick cords bond together in a net surrounding both Enforcers.  Feral
knew what it was and to whom it belonged.  It was a Spider Missile, a
retrievable rescue missile... developed by those blasted SWAT Kats.  
	He looked up and saw a black jet hovering above them.  A hatch
opened and Feral saw the unwelcome, yet familiar faces of T-Bone and
Razor.  "Need a lift, Feral?"
	Feral smiled.  "You've come too late, vigilantes.  I've just
knocked out the monster with a missile from my own bazooka."
	"Think again," T-Bone said, turning to his controls.  Feral felt
the jet move and accelerate.  He wondered why the SWAT Kats were
fleeing, when he looked around.
	He gasped.  The thing was still alive, despite the missile
launched into its mouth.  It looked like at had smoked a giant cigar,
but it showed almost no damage from the blast.  "Kat's alive!  It's
inside must be armored!"
	Down below, Feral saw several other tanks moving forward to cover
the escape of their commander.  They were heavily damaged, but their
crew did their best to slow the thing down.  Turning up, he scanned
the skies for Felina and saw her leading a small band of damaged
choppers.  As he did, a rapidly moving Enforcer patrol car sped
towards the battleground.

	Javes was rushing.  From what he already saw, the Enforcers were
having their tails whipped.  He had to get there to save what was
left.
	Javes knew what had went wrong.  The answer wasn't science, it
was music.  Any good musician knew that synthesized music was never
as good as the real stuff.  What the Enforcers had was a recording,
not the genuine article.
	Somehow, the cricket had found out.  Perhaps enhanced or
ultrasonic hearing.  From what Javes heard of the reports, the thing
was shaking and quivering when the Enforcers activated their
recordings.  Though it was enchanted, it resisted its own instinct
when it realized the stuff was fake.  It had developed thought and
knew what it was up against.
	Javes urged the patrol car to go on even faster.  He already had
a view of the battle, and the Enforcers were not doing well.  Several
Enforcer units were disabled, the crew trapped within the shells of
their vehicle by the web the cricket's tail launched.
	It was even worse for the choppers.  All the cricket had to do
was aim for the rotors with its web, and the thing would plummet to
the ground.  The Enforcers on board attempted to escape via grappling
hook and parachute, but as soon as they landed, they were glued to
the spot by the web.
	The patrol car was driven into a screeching halt.  Javes rushed
himself and his baritone out and ran towards the cricket.  His heart
raced as he thought of what to play to freeze the thing.  He then
positioned his lips on the mouthpiece, set his fingers on the valves
and blew.
	The thing suddenly stopped activity instantly.  Its scorpion tail
bent down and its claws lost all activity.  It began to move slowly,
like in some form of trance, towards Javes.
	Not all the Enforcers had been paralyzed by the web.  Some had
evaded being hit.  Javes watched as these Enforcers rushed to their
stuck comrades and freed them.  The few remaining choppers (all the
tanks were knocked out) assisted the evacuation of the police
Enforcers.  On foot, traveling by helicopter, the Enforcers rushed
out towards the HQ, giving tiny thanks to him as they passed.
	The Enforcers were a good distance from the cricket and Javes
when tragedy struck.  All the wear and tear his baritone had gone
through, since its life in Javes' homeland, to the homeless living in
Megakat City, to being thrown out of several establishments, to the
Enforcer probing, had caught up with it.  As Javes pressed a valve,
the rusted thing shattered, creating a blockage.  The baritone
suddenly froze up in his hands, producing no more music.
	Javes looked up as the giant cricket before him began to awake
from the mating ritual.  It noticed Javes and several spines and the
tail aimed for him.
	Javes could only say one thing: "Oh, crud..."

	The SWAT Kats landed carefully at the Enforcer HQ.  Feral and his
driver were free.  Though the younger Enforcer was grateful, Feral
was not.  "Don't push it, SWAT Kats."
	All the SWAT Kats had to do was harangue him, which enraged and
embarrassed him some more.
	The T-Bone and Razor were about to leave when Callie and Dr.
Konway arrived, running to stop them from their departure.  "T-Bone!
Razor!"
	Callie was the first to reach them.  "Dr. Konway has developed an
anti-mutagen."
	A panting Dr. Konway approached.  "Yes...  I have it in gas
form..." he gasped.  "We have no more available units, so you're our
only hope of taking out that thing..."  He breathed deeply and
continued.  "We have a problem though. We have no container to carry
the stuff."
	T-Bone turned to Razor.  "How about loading it into a Smokescreen
Missile?"
	"Sure, but we'd better hurry.  The thing's getting pretty close
to this place."
	Razor got out of the jet and helped T-Bone unload a missile.
Razor turned to Dr. Konway to get the anti-mutagen and a gas valve
unit.
	"Hurry, SWAT Kats.  Mr. Pusa went out to stop the thing from
rampaging.  He's a musician whose instrument can..."
	"Stop the cricket?  We already know, Ms. Briggs," replied T-Bone.  
	Razor continued, "We found out by shooting some footage of our
first battle.  We soon found that some blues player could freeze the
thing by his playing."
	"Besides, we'd like to thank the guy for providing some music to
us while we worked at night..."
	Callie smiled at the joke.  T-Bone and Razor were the two figures
who held hope for the city.
	The loading of the anitmutagen was quickly done.  As the SWAT
Kats left, Callie, Feral and Dr. Konway watched as they carried the
only shot that could save the city.

	Just as Javes watched the thing prepare to impale, web and catch
him for lunch, he heard a humming noise.  He turned to one side and
saw an Enforcer chopper with its rope ladder down.  A female voice
shouted, "Grab hold!"  He didn't need any command to do that.
	At the moment he left, several spines and a net of webs covered
and totally demolished the spot where he was just a few moments ago,
as well as the patrol car behind him.
	Javes climbed aboard and met a pretty, but tough-looking Enforcer
onboard.  He recognized her from his interrogation.
	"Sit tight, Mr. Pusa.  I'm going to try to evade the cricket as
we make our getaway."
	Javes looked out and behind the chopper and watched as the thing
prepared several spines.  "Look out!" shouted Javes as the thing
fired.
	He didn't like Felina's reply.  "The chopper's too heavily
damaged to move out quickly!"  Javes looked back and saw the hail of
dangerous spikes.
	A mighty roar filled the air.  Javes thought that it was the
sound of the salvo of spikes about to get them, but when he looked
back, he saw that the spines were shredded- pieces of keratin
floating and falling here and there.  
	He looked up and saw a sleek, black jet flying overhead, ready to
dive.  He smiled.
	"SWAT Kats to Lt. Feral," came a reassuring and familiar voice
over the radio.  Javes rejoiced, and so did Felina.  "You take your
passenger to safety.  We'll deal with this overgrown grasshopper,"
Razor continued.  Felina simply muttered, "And let you guys have all
the fun?", though a quickly protesting Javes rapidly forced her to
take the chopper back to Enforcer HQ.

	"The area's clean, Razor," T-Bone noted of the battleground.
"Tell me what you need to whack this obese insect."  He flew swiftly,
but carefully.  He couldn't risk nearly being shot down again.  
	However, Razor's reply was not exactly welcome.  "Crud!  We have
a problem, T-Bone.  The anti-mutagen's  slightly heavier than the
smokescreen gas in the missiles, and not in equal quantity.  The
missile might fly inaccurately, totally missing the thing to cover it
in the stuff.  I got careless.  I didn't realize this back at
Enforcer HQ to make the adjustments.  The only way to hit the thing
is to get really close."
	"Great, sure-shot." T-Bone sarcastically complained.  "Well,
we'll just have to make do."  He urged the Turbokat forward,
accelerating it, heading straight for the cricket.
	"T-Bone, have you gone nuts!?  Don't you remember what a charge
like this did!?" Razor screamed.  The G's were pushing him deep into
his seat, and he could barely move, if not stop T-Bone.
	T-Bone's reply: "I sure do."
	The cricket watched as the jet came closer.  It new it didn't
need to really adapt to this tactic since it failed before.  It
readied it's web-launching, barbed scorpion tail, claws and spines.
And fired them all.
	The Turbokat dodged the hail of webbing and spines quickly and
dexterously.  A few spines managed to graze the Turbokat, but the
damage was minimal.
	The cricket realized its mistake.  It had fired off all of its
spines and its web.  It would take a few seconds to grow it all back,
but the SWAT Kats needed only two.  It watched in horror as a small
missile was launched from the Turbokat.  As it saw the Turbokat
suddenly pull up and away, it saw the modified concussion missile
smash straight into its body and release its gas.  It was totally
covered in the stuff.
	As the SWAT Kats hit the sky, Razor smiled at his buddy.  "That
was great, T-Bone.  You learned from your earlier charge how to avoid
getting hit and using it to your advantage."
	T-Bone smiled as well.  "Yeah.  Come to show that the cricket's
not the only one who can rapidly adapt."

	Javes sat in his dressing room.  He smiled as he looked at
himself in the mirror.  No more was the ragged, dirty street kat.
What replaced that was a neatly dressed hispanic-Asian, with neatly
combed black fur.  He had fed well for the last two weeks, and looked
much healthier.  Even though he couldn't change the fact that his fur
was spotted and a little multicolored, he looked neat, nice and
sharp.  He was wearing a barong tagalog****, the native national
dress of his homeland.  
	The only thing that betrayed his life as a homeless kat was his
whiskers.  They were still in disarray (he tried fixing them up, but
they kept bending themselves up).  He did like it, though.  A nice,
mark of who he was.
	He picked up his baritone.  It was nice and shiny.  He had it
repaired and cleaned up, replacing the broken valve and shining it
with the best polish Megakat City had to offer.
	He walked out into the backstage hallway and reminisced.  After
all that adventure, the city rewarded him with cash for saving lives
when the cricket attempted to attack Enforcer HQ, as well as
citizenship in Megakat City (despite Feral's protests).  The press
coverage of the event quickly helped him find gigs all throughout the
city, and he earned a lot for an amateur musician.  
	He also got to meet the SWAT Kats.  He had a special surprise for
them tonight...
	The announcer introduced him and he went onstage.  People cheered
wildly, calling out his name.  Javes was pleased the kats of Megakat
City liked his music, and he was happy.  Here he was, inside the
Kat's Fence, a prestigious jazz club and music hall.  He had an
occupation that delighted him, being a musician.
	He sat down, and using his natural friendliness and charm, talked
to the audience, introducing himself (as if he needed to, since he
was so well known already), and preparing for the concert.
	"Folks, this first song is a special creation I made for tonight.
It's gonna be the first time you're gonna hear it.  It's my little
dedication to the heroes who helped me out.  This one's for you, SWAT
Kats."
	The crowd went wild.
	Javes slowly played through his "Hero's Song".  The music was
beautiful, reminding all the kats there about the glory of heroism.
It was rich and truly inspiring, as if the SWAT Kats were there.
	Javes' disappointment was that he didn't see the SWAT Kats there.
He understood, though.  He knew that somewhere, trouble was brewing
and that the T-Bone and Razor were needed.
	What he didn't notice were two cheering mechanics seated at a
table at the back, taking the night off.  Nor did he notice that at
one side of the stage was a happily singing cricket.


	Glossary Notes:
	Pusa* - Filipino (national language of the Phil.) for "cat".
	Baritone** - If you've ever seen a tuba, this instrument is
definitely its little brother.  Imagine a frame of metal pipes shaped
into a rectangle, with a large brass opening at one corner.  It has a
bassy, rich sound perfect for the blues and jazz.
	Smokescreen Missiles*** - My contribution to the SWAT Kat armory.
It is a concussion missile, just like the usual stuff the SK deploy,
but its warhead contains a compressed gas tank.  Upon impact, the
thing releases enough gas to blanket a small city block.
	Barong Tagalog**** - It's a polo-type shirt made of very fine
fabric, with elegant embroidery.  It's very airy.  

	Legal notes:
	Now for the legal stuff: SWAT Kats created by Christian and Yvon
Tremblay, owned by Hanna-Barbera, all rights reserved, 1994-1995.