SWAT KATS- THE RADICAL SQUADRON "A Hangar Divided" By The Professor "This is Mayor Manx-- HAALP!" came the call over short-wave as the Turbokat was on routine patrol. It caught both T-Bone and Razor off guard, seeing as it had been a mostly quiet evening. Earlier that day they had had the usual war of words with Commander Feral, in which he swore that he'd unmask the two "hotshot vigilantes", as he always did. The rest of the day had been quiet until then. "Hey, buddy, can you find where that call came from?" T-Bone called from the pilot's seat in front. "Working on it..." Razor responded from the gunner's chair in back. "Got it! His mansion in uptown." "Alright! We're on our way"! With that, T-Bone pushed the throttle lever forward, and all three of the Turbokat's engine's flared to life as the jet roared toward uptown Megakat City. Commander Feral, on the other hand, was already there. He was driving through the neighborhood on the way to his own house when his police scanner picked up the call. "This is Feral!" he called into the microphone, "Bring me backup- at the Mayor's Mansion!" His own police cruiser screeched into action as he raced down another avenue and arrived at the Mayor's front gate. Before he got out, he heard his niece's voice call over the radio, "Commander, this is Lieutenant Feral, I'm on my way with a small guard. Any special equipment?" The commander took the mic. "Negative, Felina, I'm sure the mayor's probably just spooked by something. Just don't make it look like it's as much of a waste of time as it is!" "Understood. We're on our way. Feral out." Commander Feral grabbed his shotgun and stepped out of the cruiser. He walked cautiously up to the gate of the mansion, checking his blind spots. The mayor was easily spooked, so it was probably nothing. Probably. Still, better safe than dead, Feral checked all around him before entering his personal code into the gate's access panel. After a few seconds, the gate ground open, and he cautiously inched his way up to the front door. When he arrived, two helicopters made themselves seen and heard as they landed in the street. A small guard of ten or so Enforcers filed out of them, he signaled to have them take strategic positions around the mansion, and when Lt. Felina Feral ran up, he signaled for her to take the position opposite him on the other side of the doorway. When all were in position, the Commander counted to three with his fingers, and both he and Felina broke through the door, sweeping their guns to look for any trespassers. Two Enforcers followed them, doing the same. They then fanned out, searching for any hostiles. Right before the Commander was to yell out "area secure", a small, green tentacle lashed out of a nearby closet to knock him down. Felina reacted instinctually by firing a warning shot above the closet door, and the tentacle slithered back into the small room. The Lt. kicked open the door to see the tentacle slither into a hole in the floor. The Commander got back up and rubbed a small red welt developing on his forehead. "What in blazes was that?" "I don't know, uncle, but it looked like one of Dr. Viper's creations." "Viper! I thought we'd gotten that mutated sicko for good." It was then that the two other Enforcers arrived, looking worried. "Is everything alright, sir? We heard a gunshot." "I'm fine. Get to the second floor, and shoot anything green!" T-Bone engaged the Turbokat's Harrier engines and landed safely on the Mayor's lawn. As the two SWAT Kats jumped out of the cockpit and ran towards the entrance to the mansion, an Enforcer started to stop them, then decided they might help. He would have just "not seen them enter" on his report. Razor began scanning the area using his portable X-Ray beam on his glovatrix, until he finally stopped at the floor. "T-Bone! I'm getting traces of Catalyst 99 directly below us! You know what that means..." "Yeah. That sick snake Viper! Let's kick some mutated tail!" The two kats quickly found a staircase, and ran down only to have several small mushrooms attack them. The mutated mushrooms bared small fangs and spikes, and apparently some way to move, because they were flinging themselves at the SWAT Kats. T-Bone drew his Glovatrix and fired a Mini-Tarpedo, throwing a great number of them back and sticking them to the wall. A mushroom "brigade" charged Razor, only to be netted by a missile from his Glovatrix. After the last of the Shiitake menace had been dealt with, the two kats arrived at the bottom step, and were quickly disabled by two large tentacles. The large, green vines knocked them alongside the head, knocking them both unconscious. Feral's team had done a sweep of the second floor, only to come across a broken transmitter and the Mayor's toupee. That was, until one of the patrolmen fell down a rather large hole in the mayor's bathroom. The two Ferals and the other patrolman gathered around the hole, and saw the sprawled body of the first Enforcer lying motionless on the basement floor, two floors below. Suddenly a large tentacle leapt up, out of the darkness, and swept the three kats down into the hole. T-Bone and Razor bucked wildly against the two large tentacles, though not getting anywhere. Razor stopped struggling long enough to study the large green vines, whose origin was unseen-- hidden under another hole in the basement floor. He tried to move his paw enough to use his Glovatrix, but the vine's death grip was too strong. After a few moments, T-Bone realized the futility of struggle, too, and stopped. It was then that an Enforcer patrolman fell from an unnoticed hole in the ceiling, and landed with a crack on the basement floor. Razor could tell by the way he landed and the sound he made that he'd died on impact. Shortly afterwards a tentacle shot out of the hole in the basement floor, up into the hole in the ceiling, and returned with Commander and Lieutenant Feral, along with another Enforcer in its grasp. The two groups were surprised to see each other-- each had expected the other to come and help them. That was when two sinister, glowing yellow eyes appeared in the darkness. A hissing came from the direction of the eyes, which grew into an evil laugh. A green-striped tail lashed out from the shadows, and came to rest at a set of large, green, scaled feet, which stepped out into the light. Half of the evil green kat stood still in the shadows, but everyone knew who it was. "How nice of you to join usssss, Commander..." came the voice of the green kat. "Viper! Release us at once!" bellowed Commander Feral. "Oh, but Commander, I have great plansssss for you..." The rest of the evil form of Doctor Viper stepped into the low light, his white labcoat singed and torn, his green, scaled skin rippling. The once proud scientist strolled up to the tentacle holding the three Enforcers, gave it a gentle stroke, and it dropped them heavily on the floor. The patrolmen brought his shotgun to bear, but another mutant Shitake mushroom jumped at him from the shadows. He screamed in pain in terror, but the mushroom had used it's spikes to sever his larynx. Felina moved away from the horror, but it did not attack them. It simply sat menacingly on the body of the dead Enforcer, waiting for them to do something stupid. Luckily, Felina and the Commander had lost their weapons when the tentacle grabbed them, otherwise they might have done the same thing. "Let them go, Viper!" T-Bone shouted. "If you need someone for your twisted experiments--" Viper let a hiss-chuckle go. "My dear SSSSSWAT Katssss, your time will be sssssoon enough!" The mutated snake-kat wandered over to a large green pod sitting in the corner of the room. "Ssssoon, you all will join your mayor..." All four kats suddenly realized that a large, bushy tail was protruding from the back of the pod. "What are you doing to the mayor, you creep?!" the Commander demanded. "I am making him into one of my sssservantssss. In a few days, he will follow my every command!" Viper said, and gently stroked the pod. "And I suppose you intend to do the same to me?" "Oh, yessss. But firssst I need one more kat. Once I have deputy mayor Briggssssss, I will control the three mossst powerful katssss in Megakat City, and dominion will be mine!!" While Viper was speaking, one of his mushrooms absentmindedly wandered near the vine holding the SWAT Kats. When he erupted into peals of evil laughter, the Shiitake jumped, and poked the tentacle with one of its spikes. The vine released Razor and T-Bone, and slithered back into its hole in pain. The two kats aimed their Glovatrixes at Viper, who in a sweeping arm motion sent his mushroom "squadron" at them, disappeared down the hole, first grabbing the Commander with his long, prehensile tail. He lightly tapped another tentacle, which grabbed the pod containing the mayor, and the myriad of vines disappeared down the hole in the basement floor. T-Bone and Razor fired furiously, gluing the mushrooms to the walls with Mini-Tarpedos, and Felina had snatched up her fallen comrade's shotgun and was fragging as many of the Psycho salad bits as possible. When only a handful were left, they too disappeared into the hole. T-Bone was ready to jump in after them, but Razor called out, "We can't go after him, buddy, we need to protect Callie!" "Agreed." said Felina. "I'll get some security around the Deputy Mayor ASAP. Any help you two can offer will be appreciated." The three kats ran up into their aircraft, determined to stop Viper from getting to Deputy Mayor Callico Briggs. ---------------------- II Callico Briggs sat on her porch, watching the sunset over the Megakat City skyline. Her condo afforded an excellent view, one of the perks of being Deputy Mayor. She had a slow song playing on her stereo, and a wistful look in her eyes. She knew she was being over-hopeful... no kat alive would ask her out, simply because they thought she was so lofty and powerful. At this rate, Callie thought, she would go out with anyone who asked. Maybe even the Mayor. But the more she thought about it, the worse off the idea became. After awhile, she actually laughed at it. The wind began to blow, and she hugged herself for comfort. Her pink sweatsuit kept her warm, but not as much as she liked. Her blonde hair blew in the sudden gust, and she ran a paw through it. The nights had seemed so much colder... Her phone began to ring in the living room, and she thought aloud, "Oh, come on, Callie. Let the machine get it." After the third ring however, she decided it might be important and raced to answer it. "Deputy Mayor Briggs." she answered. "Deputy Mayor, this is Lieutenant Felina Feral at Enforcer Headquarters. We have reason to believe that Doctor Viper is targeting the executives of Megakat City, and you may be his next target. He's already captured the Mayor and my uncle." came the reply. "Oh, my. Surely he can't get me here! I'm twenty stories up!" "We know that, Miss Briggs, which is why we're only posting guards and having some choppers do routine sweeps of your area. We'll be keeping a close eye on you, and we suggest you work out of home for awhile. You'll be easier to protect that way." "I understand completely. The Mayor and Commander are still alive then?" "Yes, so we think. Until Mayor Manx is recovered, though, you’re mayor of Megakat City." Callie took a moment to think of it. She had thought of running before, but had never really had the guts to do it. Now, until the Mayor returned, she was Mayor Briggs. Her first thought was, "Now I'll NEVER get a date!" She actually said to Felina: "Thank you, Lieutenant. Keep me informed." "Understood... Mayor Briggs. Feral out." Callie hung up the phone. She strode back onto the porch, taking her wine glass from the table. Standing on the balcony, she took a delicate sip from her glass. An Enforcer chopper flew across the horizon, and Callie removed her glasses to see it properly. "I guess the SWAT Kats will have to work double time for awhile..." she said to no one in particular. Several hours later, the Turbokat landed on the roof of Callie's building. T-Bone and Razor leaped out of the jet, and were immediately stopped by one of the maintenance staff for an autograph. They both grudgingly signed a piece of paper he provided, and they then proceeded down the elevator shaft to Callie's floor. "Do you think we're actually getting TOO popular, Razor?" T-Bone inquired. "I dunno, buddy, but if this keeps up, it might work against us." his partner replied. "Yeah, I can see it now. We're trying to apprehend some bad kat and we're run over by autograph hounds." "Well, I'll just have to build a "Fan Detector" into the Turbokat!" They both laughed at this as they stepped out of the elevator and found their way to Callie's room. The two Enforcers at the door let her know of their arrival, and cleared them to enter. The SWAT Kats strolled as nonchalantly into her living room as possible. They both knew the other had the same love for Callie, but no one had done anything about it. It had been that way for three years, and showed no signs of changing. T-Bone was the first one to greet her. "Miss Briggs, we're here and ready to help. What can we do?" he asked. "Well, I guess one of you can stay here while the other patrols in your jet... if that's okay with you?" she replied. "Oh, no problem Miss Briggs. I volunteer for first watch." Razor chimed in. T-Bone threw his partner a look, but started his way up to the jet anyway. After he had been in flight for awhile, he looked up at the picture of Callie on the jet's control panel. Actually, it was of the three of them. T-Bone sighed, and considered his feelings for her. He remembered one day when he was in the mechanic's shop as Chance, and Razor as Jake, when he saw her on the news. "That Callie sure is pretty..." Chance had said. "Yeah, but she'll be pretty mad if we don't get her car running!" Jake had reminded him. But one thing they had both known-- she was in love with at least one of the SWAT Kats, not Jake and Chance, her own mechanics. T-Bone guided the jet into a gentle curve as he scanned the ground for any of Dr. Viper's mutant minions, and continued to ponder their relationship... Razor took in the view from Callie's balcony, and realized why she liked it so much. The sunset seemed to last forever as it drifted behind the tall buildings of downtown. As the last slivers of light began to disappear behind City Hall, Callie slid up beside him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said. "Oh, yes, Miss Briggs. I've never seen anything like it." "Really? Where do you live?" Razor threw her a look over his shoulder. "Can you blame me?" she responded. Razor decided he couldn't. Enough people had wanted to find out who the SWAT Kats really were, and almost no one knew they were mechanics on the edge of the city. Her mechanics... Whenever he was Jake, Razor longed to be with Callie. When he was Razor, he was around her almost on a daily basis, yet the two never coincided. When he was Razor, it was professional. When he was Jake, he'd always hoped that she would notice him, but Chance always stole the show. "Can I offer you a drink, Razor?" Callie inquired. "Oh, thank you. Do you have any Milk?" Razor responded. "What do you think I am, an aristocrat?" She quipped, and returned shortly with a can of milk and a glass of wine for herself. She raised her glass in toast. "To the capture of that snake, Viper." "I'll drink to that!" They did, and Razor caught the Turbokat flying by out of the corner of his eye. 'Sorry, buddy...' he thought. T-Bone flew in front of the building, and he could have sworn he saw the two of them drinking on her porch. "Great. I'm the one with my tail in the air, and he's the one having drinks with Callie." he thought aloud. He once again looked at the photograph of the three of them. It was a crime in his mind-- he and his best friend in love with the same she-kat. He tried to distract himself with thoughts of his short-lived affair with Ann Gora, the ace reporter from Kat's Eye news. He remembered what she said: "It was good for our careers, and it was good physically, T-Bone, but we just live in two different worlds..." In his eyes, it might as well have been Callie saying it... Callie had invited him in from the porch, and Razor had uneasily sat down in one of her overstuffed chairs in her living room. Seeing the jet fly by at that time was just a little too odd for him. It was as if he was starting to enjoy Callie's company, then the Turbokat had reminded him that the other SWAT Kat felt the same way about her. "So, tell me, what's it like defending Megakat City from your perspective?" Callie said, trying to make polite conversation. "It's... uh... interesting. You see alot of the city from a jet. You also get to be good friends with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor..." Razor responded with a smile. Callie smiled in response and sat down in a chair opposite Razor. "You don't think it's a bit chilly in here, do you?" "Oh, not really, Miss Briggs." "Well, I think it is. Can you get the patio door?" Razor walked over and shut the door. When he returned, he discovered that Callie had turned on her gas fireplace. "There. Much better..." she said, and rubbed her hands by the fire. The SWAT Kat, a little unsure, walked over and sat down where he had before. Callie bit her lip, an action unseen by Razor. 'Am I really doing this?' she thought. 'Dammit Callie, I realize how lonely you are, but trying to get a SWAT Kat?! Are you nuts?!' She decided she was. No kat in MKC was going to ask her, so she was going to make the first move. Even if he was a SWAT Kat. She turned to Razor, and with a pleasant smile, inquired "What's the personal life of a SWAT Kat like?" T-Bone had decided that his shift was over after five hours. He landed on top of Callie's building, and once again walked to her condo. When he arrived, Razor and Callie were sitting on her couch, chatting. "I hate to interrupt, but it's your shift, buddy." "Oh, sure. I'll be back in five hours, Miss Briggs." Razor hastily responded. "Oh, okay. Whenever. Safe flying..." Callie said to Razor as he walked out. T-Bone couldn't help the look Razor shot him, and he only shot a sly look back. After he heard the jet take off, he asked Callie "Where do you wish me to stand guard, Miss Briggs?" "Oh, anywhere that's convenient. Won't you have a seat?" T-Bone sat on the couch at a pretty far distance from the Deputy Mayor. This is what he'd been waiting for all evening, but now he wasn't so sure. "Thank you. May I ask what you and my partner discussed all this time?" "Oh, not much. I just asked him what being a SWAT Kat was like. What the kat behind the mask was like..." Callie removed her glasses and blinked at T-Bone. 'An excellent maneuver--' she thought to herself. 'But was it timely?' "Did he tell you anything?" T-Bone responded in a sly tone. 'This isn't bad conversation,' he thought to himself. 'But is it what you want?' "Only that he liked what he did, being a pilot, and being your friend." 'Ouch!' T-Bone thought. "Well, we've saved the city countless times together. You get to really know a kat that way." He said. "I can imagine." It was a tense silence, and the realization worked its way into T-Bone's mind. 'Look at the way she's acting! SHE'S hitting on YOU!' It took him a second to formulate a response. "So, the life of a Deputy Mayor must be as intense." Callie laughed. "If you say so. Some kats may like political drama, but frankly I like real action. The paperwork is the worst part of it." "I can imagine." Callie developed a slight smile. 'Look at the way he's acting! It's working!' she thought. "Can I get you something to drink?" she offered. "Yes, please." She returned shortly with two glasses and a bottle of wine. T-Bone couldn't read the name or vintage, but it didn't matter. He knew where she was headed with it. The question was, would he go along with it? Razor returned to the jet and stubbornly piloted the Turbokat into the skies over MKC. He vented a few quiet exclamations as he almost lost control in a sudden updraft. "T-Bone should be flying, not me!" he said, and looked at the photograph that T-Bone had tacked to the 3D Radar screen. It was of the two of them and Callie, right after they had saved her from Doctor Viper the first time. Razor let out a sigh in the quiet of the cockpit. It was a releasing sigh in many respects; it was a sigh of anger, grief, and love all at once. It was love, though, not only for Callie, but his partner whom he'd known as a brother throughout the years. A brother with whom he'd shared many experiences, and who he always wished to be best man at his wedding. The only real damper on it was that they had always wanted the same she-kat to marry. Razor adjusted his heading and stared out into open space, thinking about his brother, and how they were both in love... T-Bone was rather mystified. More at himself than what Callie was doing, which would have been confusing enough. She was obviously trying to put the moves on him, which was something he'd lied awake at night thinking about. The odd part was, he wasn't fielding any of it. He was confusing the hell out of himself. "Miss Briggs, I think this outsteps the bounds of--" He began. "T-Bone, it's not all that scandalous. I just want a back rub.. with those muscles I'm sure you can really release some tension..." Callie came back, who had surprised him with it by disappearing, then reappearing wearing only a pink bathrobe. "Miss Briggs, I--" "Please, can't you at least do this for your Mayor?" Callie punctuated this last one with a slight air of command. T-Bone only smiled slightly. "Well, if it IS a direct order from the Mayor..." Callie gave a smile that only pretended to be innocent. 'This is NOT happening! This is NOT happening!' she kept thinking, but it was indeed happening. She had gone beyond the bounds of good taste completely and was now not only hitting on... but trying to SEDUCE a SWAT Kat! She was confusing the hell out of herself. She laid down on her stomach, stretching our luxuriously on her couch. T-Bone, now VERY unsure of what was safe and what was not, set his Glovatrix aside, and gently kneaded her shoulders. Callie let out a contented sigh. "Can you press down a little harder?" "Anything you say, Miss Briggs." The SWAT Kat did indeed press a little harder, but the nuances of everything happening were not lost on him. He still couldn't believe it was happening, and he wasn't sure if he wanted it to. He showed no sign of making sense to himself any time soon. Felina had not been having a good day. Now that her uncle had been taken hostage by Doctor Viper, Lt. Steel had been put in charge. Of course, he had only wanted the title. When it came to most of the actual *work*, he'd hand it down to her. She sat at her desk and cursed him again. "Not only MY work, but his AND my uncle's! Damn him..." Her fingers ticked away at the old word processor on her desk, trying to fill out the seemingly countless forms that had amassed on her hard drive. An Enforcer courier walked into her office and dropped a stack more of papers onto her desk. Felina threw him a look, but he could do no more than shrug. In the end she couldn't blame him. They were all bogged down by all the city leaders disappearing, and the SWAT Kats were busy guarding Miss Briggs. That meant more work for them, scince the SKs couldn't help them with the petty crime. Felina then grabbed the stack in both hands and plunked it into her lap, and proceeded to file through them. Somehow, in the sea of reports, something caught her eye. A shipment of a mind-altering chemical had been stolen from Megakat BioChemical. This wasn't too unusual, alot of BioChemical's missing stock was sold on the black market. The thing that WAS unusual was the name. "Catalyst 42". She grabbed the phone in front of her. "This is Lieutenant Feral! Get me Megakat BioChemical, and get on the horn with every other pharmacutical company in the city. We need the antidote to Catalyst 42!" ------------------------ III Razor had been flying for an hour now, and he was steadily getting angry. He thought more and more about how T-Bone/Chance had always stolen the show, and how he had been the more agressive one in the quiet race. His face had slowly grown from a frown into a scowl, and his mind narrowed on two things: Callie and T-Bone He had had enough. Spending the past hour flying the Turbokat had given him plenty of time to think about Callie. "I'M the one who deserves her!" he declared, and landed the jet on top of her building. Quickly arming his Glovatrix, Razor hopped onto the roof and pushed past the maintenance kat, who wanted to ask him about the odd green residue that had developed on the underside of the jet... The massage had been done with for a few minutes, and they just sat on the couch, looking at each other. Callie was hardly dressed, and T-Bone was visibly sweating. They both knew what they wanted, and what they were feeling. They just didn't know WHY they were acting on it. Now, of all times. Callie finally broke the laden stillness by resting her paw on top of his. T-Bone almost started at this. 'Her touch is electric...' he thought, which surprised him. He never thought like that. Whereas Callie was thinking: 'Such strong paws... such a katly physique...' And that surprised her as well, because she never thought like that. *Especially* when as rapt as she was. T-Bone was done thinking. He was done second-guessing himself. So, he simply began to give in, and leaned foreward... Callie closed her eyes in anticipation. This was what she had always wanted... At least, she *thought* that's what she had always wanted... The two of them were poised. Eventually, T-Bone cradled her face with his paw, and slowly began to bring their faces together... Closer... Closer... Only a millimeter away were their lips, when the sickening thumps of metal being buried into flesh were heard. Two muffled screams came from the other side of her door, right before a loud blast blew it inward. The two of them instantly stood, and T-Bone ran for his Glovatrix in the sudden cloud of dust and debris. He tripped over an ottoman, however, and fell with a thud to land at a set of yellow feet. He looked up at his attacker. "She's mine, you hear me?! Mine!" the attacker bellowed, and fired a projectile from his arm. T-Bone rolled out of the way quickly and got to his feet, realizing who his attacker was. Razor had tried to kill him, and had killed two Enforcers to do so. "Razor, you don't understand!" he tried to explain, not wanting to harm his friend. "Oh, I understand all to well... *buddy*!" Razor yelled, and fired another Mini-Octopus at him. Ducking and rolling, T-Bone managed to evade it as Callie's bookcase was shattered. "Razor, come on! Let me explain!" "You've explained enough! Now, we don't have to fight for her any more..." Razor leveled his Glovatrix at T-Bone, who had rolled into a corner to escape the last one. There was a soft 'click' as it loaded another projectile, then they both turned as Callie started screaming at them. "STOP IT! STOP IT!! Can't I just love SOMEONE!!!!!" she cried, and ran into another room, where crashes were heard. Somewhere, in the recesses of Razor's mind, he knew that what he was doing was wrong. He also knew... almost as if it was in his very soul... that he loved Callie, and had to help her. This urge-- no, *instinct*-- overcame his unfounded anger for T-Bone, and he ran into Callie's room. Also, T-Bone knew that he loved Callie... but he never had wanted to be so intimate with her, at least not without letting her know that he was also Chance. Despite his reputation as a ladies kat, he had wanted to marry Callie before being that intimate with her... at least, as intimate as he was planning... So, he too ran into her room to help her. Halfway there, the two friends looked at each other. There was a moment of clarity as they both realized that something was horribly, horribly wrong with their minds, but they also knew that they could do nothing about it, so they finished into Callie's room. Her room was absolutely in shambles. She had apparently torn it apart just now, and was weeping loudly by her bedstand. They slowly approached, and T-Bone opened his mouth to say something, but Callie turned suddenly and looked at them with the most intense mixture of sadness and anger that they had ever seen. Her hair was extremely disarrayed, and apparently she had been wearing maskera, as it ran down her face. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" she shouted, and grabbed a shard of a fractured mirror. She waved it at them menacingly. "You ruined my life!! I was never able to love, because I was waiting for YOU!" "Which one?" Razor put out. Her eyes swept the room to settle on them again. She fell on her knees and yelled as she sobbed, "I don't know!!" Razor kneeled beside her and she pointed the shard at him. She slided away from him, and fell back on her arm. In all of the commotion, her bathrobe had become untied, and the SWAT Kats did indeed see more of the Deputy Mayor than normal. But it didn't matter. This wasn't Callie. And they weren't themselves, either. She was breathing heavily, and she had a terrible thought. And yet, in her altered state, she thought it would solve everything. She slowly turned the shard around in her hand... The SK's thought to stop her, but she would just stab either them or herself anyway, so for a tense second, the room was still... And it was broken by glass shattering as a small canister fell into the room from a newly broken window. The canister then burst open, filling the room with a white cloud. The SKs and Callie coughed wildly and thought to get out, but they were soon overcome. Staggering to the floor, they passed out, and the last thing they heard were many footsteps entering the apartment... "Move in!" shouted Felina, half listening to her hand radio. She waved her arm, and a small squad of Enforcers ran into the Deputy Mayor's apartment, stepping over the two dead guards at her door. When the "all clear" went out, she stepped onto Callie's balcony and waved at the helicopter outside her bedroom window, the one that had fired the canister into the other room. "Give Conway my thanks!" she shouted at them, and the helicopter flew off into the night. She had asked Doc Conway to find the antidote to Catalyst 42 (Catalyst 6X9), and he had delivered it to the helipad within minutes. "Lieutenant! I think one's coming around!" yelled an Enforcer from another room. Felina ran into the bedroom to find Razor stirring. "Medic!" she yelled, and one came to Razor's side, and placed an oxygen mask on his face. This was quickly shunned as Razor blinked the fog from his head and sat up. "Lieutenant Feral! What happened?" "You've been under the influence of Catalyst 42, a mood enhancer. It basically lowers the mind's defenses and lets emotions and feelings flow freely." Razor nodded. "But... how did you know to come here? I mean, did you expect... this?" Felina only smiled. "What do you think I am, blind? I've seen the three of you together enough to know how it would effect you." She turned to the medic, who was working on the Deputy Mayor. "She alright?" "Yes, ma'am. Got some nasty glass cuts, and she's breathing a little too deeply, but we'll have her stabilized soon." the medic replied, and gave Callie a shot of something. Felina nodded her agreement. "But, Lieutenant, how...?" Razor inquired, still shaking the cobwebs from his head. "Well, there was an odd green mold on the building's ventilation shaft, and the same mold is on the bottom of the Turbokat. We think Doctor Viper bred the mold to release the catalyst, to make you kill each other." "And it almost worked. Thanks for the assist." Soon, T-Bone came around, and Callie stirred. When they were both conscious, they explained everything to them. "So, no word on Viper's whereabouts, then?" T-Bone inquired. "I'm afraid not. However, we raided the swamp, and found what looked like his hideout. We found the pods containing my uncle and the Mayor. Doc Conway is working on them as we speak." Callie and T-Bone nodded. "So, is it all over?" Callie asked. "I don't think so, Deputy Mayor. Viper's still at large, and we don't know if we can help the Mayor or the Commander without some of his knowledge. We need him back." "Well, if you don't mind, that's for another day..." T-Bone declared, and ambled toward the bedroom door. Razor soon followed, and Callie walked after them. Eventually, the three of them stood in her living room, looking at each other. There were no words. Felina had said that it only lowered barriers, so it was what they had all really thought and felt. Callie was the first to speak. "I love you both. But to love like that..." "We know, Miss Briggs. Someday, we'll work it out." T-Bone said, and looked at his friend, who threw him a nervous smile. "Sorry I tried to kill you, T-Bone..." he said, and scratched the back of his head. T-Bone smiled. "Not the first time. Won't be the last. Accepted." he said, and hit his friend on the back. Callie smiled at them both, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss T-Bone on the cheek, and kissed Razor on his own cheek, as well. "Thanks, guys. I know that there are two kats that I can always count on." There was a round of good-byes, and on their way out, Felina told Razor that since he was under the influence of a drug, he wouldn't be held responsible for the two Enforcer's deaths. He half thanked her, and the two SWAT Kats went back up to the roof to find that the Enforcers had used flame throwers to burn off the mold. "Aww, crud! We have to re-paint the jet!" Razor exclaimed. "Yeah, and we also have to patrol for Viper tomorrow!" T-Bone put in. The two SWAT Kats jumped into the Turbokat, and found it still operational, if not smelling like burnt leaves. They took off into the sky, which was slowly turning into sunrise. The reds and blues played off of each other as they headed the opposite way into the desert. "Say, buddy?" T-Bone said. "Yeah?" Razor responded. "What can we do about Callie? We both love her like crazy..." "Well, T-Bone, let's just stay friends for now. You know what they say: 'A hangar divided will not stand'." "Yeah. Let's be the SWAT Kats, and worry about love later. Besides... don't you have something about Lieutenant Feral?" "Are you trying to get me away from Callie?" "Just a thought..." The two friends laughed at each other, and T-Bone brought the jet in to land. One thing was sure: This would not be a 'hangar divided' for a long time... THE END