TITLE: GET DOWN WITH VIPER BY: HARLEY QUINN This is the continuation of my last story.This one's for all those music fans out there including myself who like heavy metal, classic rock, disco, pop, bhangra, anything [ya, even opera].Pretend to be hearing all your favourite songs in the last part of the story to make it more fun. The alarm clock in Chance's room rang loud and clear.It was a brand new one.Jake bought it to replace the one Chance finally put out of commition the last time.But that was not going to stop Chance any.He gave the poor clock a huge push which sent it flying to the ground.A black paw caught it in mid air with much skill and placed it back on the table,putting off the alarm. "How many times did you say Jake fixed your clock?" asked RT jokingly, watching Chance turn and open his eyes. "Oh, it's you." said Chance. "You were expecting,maybe,Callie Briggs?" RT asked smugly.Chance was not amused. "Look, it's none of your business to come into my room." he said, quite rudely,and then he regretted it. "Sorry." said RT , visibly hurt, and with a sudden stam on the floor boards, she ran out of the room. Chance groaned and got out of bed.He had stayed up all night, working on the enforcer trucks which were due that day.He wanted to oversleep when that blasted clock rang.He didn't want his anger to be let out on the alien. Chance showered and dressed and went down to the living room where he saw RT sitting on the couch.It had been two days since she arrived and she hadn't been any trouble at all,well, except that time when she fiddled with the glovatrix,and caused that big hole in the hanger wall,but nothing happened to the turbokat or anything else. For two days she had been sitting on that couch and reading that encyclopedia on space.The couch was almost her home within theirs. Chance leaned over to see RT looking at a picture of their planet. "Er...RT?" "Yes?" RT didn't look up. "Hey, thanks for savin' the clock.I don't think I would be able to handle Jake if it broke." "No problem." she still didn't look up.Chance tried to look at her face but she turned away, stubbornly. "That was a cool save." he continued. "How d'you know.You didn't see it." "I know 'cause I know how I slammed it." he said.He tried to look at her face again but she turned away.He then walked away.Suddenly, he turned around. "Aha!" he cried.RT immediately turned around and pretended to read the book again. "Gotcha!" said Chance and sat next to her pulling her face towards his.He noticed the fur around her eyes were wet. "Hey..." he said sweetly.RT immediately pulled her face away from him and looked down. She felt so ashamed to cry in front of a stranger, or whatever you call a person you've known for two days. "I'm not crying." she said quite firmly.Chance didn't know what to do next. "Look," she continued,"If this is about that hole in the hanger...." "It's not." interruped Chance. "listen, I didn't mean to yell,I just....had a long night,ok?" RT nodded, and then turned to him. "Your breath is awful." she said bluntly.Chance grinned and then opened his mouth and blew air out.RT held her pink nose. "EEEEW!FOUL!" she said with a nasal voice,waving the air in front of her. "Yeah,well I bet your breath ain't so hot either." said Chance. For an answer,RT blew out the air from her mouth.Chance sniffed at it. "O.K, so it ain't so bad..." he began.RT giggled . "Are we still friends?" he asked, showing his huge paw. "Ya.sure." said RT and took his foreclaw with her tiny claws and shook it . Jake watched them from the kitchen,and smiled.He remembered Chance never had siblings and always wanted to know what it was like to have one.Well, maybe he'll find out soon.He watched Chance walk towards him and then saw RT coming after. "Hey Chance, can you take me for a ride in the turbokat?" she asked. "Sorry kid, you missed the ride that time you came into our lives." replyed Chance. "But I was tired." "A kid who can ride all the way back to the garadge,tired?" He turned to look at her. "I have experience on the bike.Oh, come on Chance." she pleaded. "Yeah,come on Chance." repeated Jake,who for so long had just been watching. "Besides,we gotta test out the new turbo boosters." he added. "And since we're on the subject of going out," put in RT, "I have a slight problem." The two mechanics turned their attention to her. Lt. Felina Feral stared out at the streets below her from her appartment.Nothing was happening.It was so quiet and peaceful. She had the day off which was a good, she thought.That Steele was starting to get on her nerves and that went for her uncle too.She thought of that incident two days ago.In her report, she mentioned about the strange vehicle that came out of the portal,but something told her to keep the fact about that strange she-kat coming with it to herself.Maybe she'll tell her uncle later. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the turbokat in the air. She looked up to see the huge jet hover over the appartment and slowly come down at her window.What are those hotshots trying to do? "May we come in Leutenant?" screamed Razor, as the jet's canopy opened.Felina,with surprise written all over her face, stepped away from the window.Razor walked into her appartment on the jet's wing, followed close behind by a very familiar looking she-kat, whom she did not see earlier as her black fur blended with the jet's colour.The she-kat wore a tom-kat's t-shirt,a very loose pair of jeans and a red cap.She then remembered the she-kat from the portal.Wow,talk of the devil.T-bone flew the jet away and landed it on the roof of the appartment. "You remember her,don't ya Leutenant." Razor said,nodding to the she-kat,who seemed rather shy about something.She seemed to have trouble looking at her.Felina nodded to Razor."Well, she has a problem which,I hope, you can solve." He pulled the kat from behind him.The tiny thing looked sheepishly at Felina. "Now you two get aquainted." said Razor with a sly smile."May I use you front door Leutenant?" "Sure Razor." she said and looked down at the newcomer.Razor left through the front door.RT suddenly felt scared.Felina was so tall and hefty and beautiful,and looked strict too,like that new teacher in school.She never saw a feline that quite matched her back at home.Chance and Jake looked more like cats on two legs.But Felina looked like a woman.RT felt like a bloody cockroach in front of her. "So, what's your name?" she asked with a smile on her face. RT felt better after seeing it."Call me RT." she said,with a grin of her own. Felina almost fell back.The kid's fangs glittered in comparison to her face. "Where do you come from?" she asked. "Ummm.I'm not sure of that yet,but I think I'm from another planet with the same name as yours." "You mean,your from outer space?And there are kats on other planets?" Felina suddenly sounded like an exited child.RT shook her head. "I mutated as I came through the portal,I think.I'll explain later." "O.k.,so what's your problem?" RT hesitated a little, and then spoke with a small voice. "I have a serious underwear shortage." "What are you wearing now?" asked Felina,trying hard not to look shocked. "Two-day-old underwear." she said with an even smaller voice,"It doesn't feel good.I didn't plan on a trip to another planet before I left home,see?" "Oh." said Felina,suppessing her smile."O.k. I get the picture.We gotta do a little shopping for you." "I got cash." RT said confidently. "Good.Now just give me some time to change." Felina slipped into her closet to change.RT waited patiently.Felina came out wearing the same thing RT wore only well fitting. "O.k. Let's go." said Felina. "Wait." interrupted RT."I need a disguise.I don't want people...kats to notice me." "Are you supposed to be top secret or something?" adked Felina. "Ya, sort of." replyed RT. "OK. I think I have something here..." RT watched Felina shuffle through the clothes and uniforms and brought out a long coat.She gave it to RT who wore it and pulled her cap over her eyes saying - "She 's lookin' at you, kid." "What's that?" said Felina. "Nothing.Line from a movie." said RT, pulling the cap up again." As they stepped out of the appartment and Felina closed the door,RT pulled at her t-shirt.Felina looked down at the alien. "Can I call you 'Felina'?" RT asked,smiling shyly. "Sure." said Felina. As they climed down the stairs, Felina wondered what her uncle would say if he saw her with a black kat from another planet.Maybe she needed that disguise more than RT.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The lizard like creature slithered down the pipe line and landed on his feet.He looked back to see the thorny vine like monster slither after him."Come on now.We're waisssting time.We sstill have lotsss more ground to cover." The vine thing lifted him up on its thick tendrils and headed for an open tunnel."Have patiencccce.Onccce we're through,the cccity will be oursss! And even thossse infernal Sssswat Kats won't be able to sstop us!" He laughed maniacally and the vine snickered with him.His laughter was drowned by the traffic on the roads above them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The week passed by slowly.It was the same old story for Chance and Jake.Fix cars,fix more cars,fix that hole in the hanger,RT helped,of course.She caused it.Jake found out a hidden talent in her. RT had this knack for finding out how things worked and fixing things. RT was not surprised . Her father used to be a mechanic,electritian,and plumber before he went into business.Maybe it was in her genes. RT successfully learnt all the little things like changing a flat, and knowing which part goes where.She didn't try her hand at it ,though, as Jake wouldn't trust her with any of his tools in case she broke something.RT,instead, became their official plumber.She had experience in that field as she did all the plumbing jobs in her house.She felt great to be accepted. The weekend came and it was time for Chance and Jake to crash.RT was tired too from helping and the three of them plonked themselves on RT's home(the couch).While the two mechanics lay down onthe couch,RT took her schoolbag out which had been lying around for the whole week. She shuffed through the trash in it and brought out memories of what she was before.Her chemistry text book,that awful chem. paper, that dark blue and silver nail polish her friend gave her to try out,audio cassettes......... AUDIO CASSETTES? RT looked at them for a moment and then dived into her bag, searching frantically.Chance and Jake looked at their friend wondering what she was so exited about.RT came out of her bag,triumphantly holding up an old,but powerful walkman with the earphones plugged in. "Yes!" she said, holding the walkman to her chest lovingly."I louv you." and she blew a kiss at it. Then she looked at her two friends.They must think she's crazy or something. She then explained,"It's my walkman,guys.I finally get to listen to some 'earth' music." she showed them the precious walkman.They looked at it curiously. The thing looked like something out of the stone age.Jake wondered whether it *really* was a walkman.Chance thought maybe there is no intelligent life out there after all.She's calling an old relic a walkman. "What's wrong with our music?" he asked her. "Oh,nothing.Except I would like to listen to some of my er...planet's music for a change." RT heared plenty of songs on the radio in the garadge,all of them were almost the same type of music she heared back on earth,and some of them were strangely identical.But nothing compares to the real thing, she thought. "Does that thing really work?" asked Jake ,studying the old relic. "I mean, these things were outdated about a century ago.And those cartrage tapes are from the stone age." "o.k. So it's not my fault that my father didn't buy me a c.d. player.Look, it works better than any c.d. player." RT sounded hurt.Obviously, that thing meant a lot to her,just like her scooter. RT played the walkman and,to impress her friends, put the volume on maximum.The music roared out of the walkman,enough to hear even without the earphones, atleast that's what she heared.The mechanics didn't look impressed.In fact, they had that look which told her that they thought she was crazy. "Can't you hear the music?" she asked , putting the earphones on Chance. She could still hear the music playing. The two took turns at listening,looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing. "Hey,what's the deal?" she asked, confused and angry.She tried hard to hold back the tears that were forming while watching the two kats roll with laughter, holding their sides. "I knew that piece of junk won't work." said Chance, sniffing and rubbing the tears that came out.RT stood up suddenly and looked down at the surprised kats. "Fine!YOUR DEAF!" she screamed in a broken voice,put on the headphones and sat down abruptly with her face to the ground.The two sat up straight,aware they had hurt the alien's feelings again. "It was just a joke." said Jake.RT was not listening.She held the earphones tight against her ears and tapped her feet on the ground in a groovy beat. Chance got up to go up to her,but Jake stopped him. "She'll be alright." he said, holding Chance's shoulder.He believed Jake when he saw RT's grip on the earphones loosen as she started to sway.He couldn't understand why he couldn't hear what she could.As if reading his thoughts,Jake said,"There's more about her than we know.And the worst part is- she doesn't know it herself." "How can she hear both our music and her's.It doesn't make sense." "I donno.Maybe it has something to do her mutation....I donno." he shook his head."Let's leave it for now." They watched as RT swayed to the music which they could not hear.They soon found themselves swaying in resonance to her..... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The screams from the T.V. were deafning, atleast for Chance.Jake was used to it and didn't mind, and RT couldn't hear them with her walkman music at full volume.Chance wished he was in RT's place, listening to sweet heavy metal instead of the screams from that damn she-kat in that horror movie.Jake had his eyes glued to the movie all evening.The same old story where a kat in a hockey mask shreads she-kats to bits with a chain saw. It was gross! Chance got fed up with it. "Hey RT." he shook RT from her trance. "What yaar!" she asked in her strong 'earth' accent, annoyed at been disturbed. "Let me have another go at that music." "Face it,Chance.You can't hear it." "One more time,please.Anything to get away from those screams." "SSSSSH!" came Jake's warning and he turned to the screen again. Chance tried to listen to the music one more time.He straned his ears to the max. but could only hear muffled screams from the TV.He shook his head. "I don't get it.Howcome you can hear that music and we can't?" "SSSSSSSSH!" hissed Jake. "I donno.Maybe it has something to do with me being human before,or something like that..." "WILL YOU PLEASE KEEP QUIET!" screamed Jake. The alarm went off in the hanger.Chance and RT immediately leaped out of the couch and headed for the hanger.Chance was so glad to finally get at some action.RT was glad that she could atleast see her crimefighting friends in action,from a distance of course.Jake felt sorry about missing a good horror flic. Chance reached the phone first,followed by RT and Jake. "Yes Ms.Briggs." he said in his 'T-bone' (tough kat) voice. "Swat Kats, it's Dr.Viper." came the Deputy Mayor's worried voice over the phone. "He's taking over City Hall with..." A sudden crunching sound was heared and the line went dead. "Ms. Briggs?" said Chance anxiously.RT could see the anxiety on Jake's face too. "CALLIE!" they screamed together, and ran towards the closet, leaving the phone hanging down.RT put the phone back on the stand and turned to see Chance and Jake transformed into T-bone and Razor- The Swat Kats. As they ran past her, RT shot out that typical question- "Can I come too?" "NO!" came that typical answer from both of them.They jumped into the jet and the mighty twin engines roared to life. "Jerks!" muttered RT as she watched the turbokat soar to the air.Fighting disappointment, she climbed up the hatch and went to the living room. The movie was gone,and in its place was a newsroom. "We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin..." said the news- caster.The picture turned into a horrible sight of a jungle which used to be a city just a minute ago.The buildings were intact but they were all crawling with thorny vines having the most sickening green colour RT had ever seen.She shuddered and sat down on the couch,curled in a corner with her school bag and walkman, still playing synthetic music,with the earphones around her neck.She had never seen disaster like this in real life.Sure her home had its fair share of crime - terrorists,robbers,murderers,corrupt politicians,but a city being overrun by giant vines...? "The city has been totally taken over by giant mutated vines.They were known to be caused by the mutated villan,Dr.Viper...." Suddenly, the news room was filled with the vines and the screen went fuzzy. RT shivered.Maybe her friends were right about staying back.The whole city was full of those...millipede type vines.RT *HATED* millipedes and the like.She then thought of something.If the whole city was covered with vines,why was the salvage yard not taken over.Suddenly the whole salvage yard seemed eerily quiet.RT curled up tighter and concentrated on the squeeky sound from the walkman.Suddenly, she heared something drop in the kitchen."Uh-oh." she said to herself. In a split second, vines bursted out of the kitchen and the bathroom."AAAAAAH" shreaked RT and instinctly jumped out of the couch before the vines tore it to peaces."Oh,G-d" whispered RT and then made a run for it.She was so glad that Badminton was her game.It made her reflexes slightly sharper than your avarage teenager.But what was even more surprising was that she could now ricochet off the walls if she ran fast enough.She remembered one of her cats do that once when it was scared out of its wits. RT dodged as much as she could.But the vines had the salvage yard surrounded and they attacked with deadly precision.RT dodged the vines so well that it surprised her.She found that she was faster and stronger than what she was when she was human.But the vines still had the upper hand . RT soon found herself cornered.The vines closed on her quickly. To her, it happened in slow motion.Her life, so far, flashed before her eyes. She shut them tightly and prepared to meet the darkness, or whatever happens when you get ripped to shreads.The music on the walkman still played at full volume.RT concentrated on the song.That song 'Tribal Dance' was playing. "Nice funeral song." she thought and put the earphones on her large ears to listen to it better and kept her eyes closed, concentrating on the groovy beat and tapping her feet."What a way to go." she thought. "Maybe we shouldn't have been so rough on RT." said Razor as the turbokat flew over city hall. "Worry about RT later.The city looks like a total jungle!" said T-bone, surveying the view of the city.Their eyes then turned to City Hall. It looked like some sort of vine filled hanging garden.The roof was still free of vines.T-bone landed the turbokat on the roof and the two Swat Kats jumped out,glovatrixes ready and senses alert.Callie was in trouble and so was the entire city.Viper had to be stopped. The two creeped down the stairs as quietly as possible but it was not enough.They were ambushed by hoardes of thorney vines, holding out their thorns to rip the duo apart.Razor fired his mini slicers and T-bone followed his cue.The blades of the slicers found their mark,but the vines grew back at an alarming rate.Razor analysed the situation quickly. Slicers won't work on them.Maybe the cement launchers will. "Fire cement launchers!" he yelled and fired and, as usual, the cement hit it's mark and pinned a few vines for a moment.T-bone fired the same from his glovatrix and pinned a few more.But the cement held only for a moment. The vines shattered the cement and headed for the Swat Kats. T-bone and Razor fired every missle they could and dodged the vines' sharp thorns.They were just glad that they didn't spit out venom,which was Viper's trademark.The vines didn't need that trait.They were strong,quick and worst of all, not mindless like the previous mutants they encountered.They seemed to *know* what they were doing.Right now, they were trying to tire the Swat Kats and were doing a pretty good job of it. Razor tried hard to keep his heart beating at a steady rate,but it was virtually impossible.Those vines were everywhere.The stairway was literally crowded with them.He jumped over vines,dodged their thorns and used every missile and weapon in the glovatrix.He was running very low on his arsenal. "Hold it, Ssswat Kat.Or your friend getsss it." came Viper's reptilian voice. Razor turned to see his partner cocooned in one vine's tendrils.Viper sat on another one over him, holding a vile with a sickly coloured fluid in it. "Thissss iss a powerful retro-mutagen." he continued after getting Razor's attention,"It will reducce your Ssswat Kat friend into a puddle of goo." He had that maniacally sly smile on his face.T-bone was struggling to get himself free,but the tendrils had a good grip on him.Razor gave in and put his paws in the air as a sign of surrender.A vine crawled up to him and removed his glovatrix while a few more wrapped him around their tendrils like a package.The former vine crawled up to Viper with the glovatrix. "Thank you." he said plainly.The vine ruffled its thorns.Razor frowned in disgust.How can anything like a sicko like Viper! Viper then went down the stairs, followed by the vines carrying T-bone and Razor.They reached the Mayor's office and Viper swung the door open.Inside were the Mayor, Callie and Commander Feral, all tied up in the same fashion as the Swat Kats, only the tendrils were not attached to the vines.They were piled up in a corner.The vines having T-bone and Razor swung themselves and the two were tossed into the corner. "Hi guys." said Callie, trying to sound pleasant. "Hello Ms. Briggs." replyed T-bone curtiously,"Glad you're alright." "*Alright*,my tail!" yelled Feral, cranky as usual,"Viper is about to take over the whole city." "The whole city,indeed." cut in Viper, turning his attention to their corner, "Virtually every nuke and corner of the cccity is covered by my vinesss." The vines ruffled in acknowledgement. "Every nuke and corner?" put in Razor. His thoughts suddenly turned to the salvage yard were they had left RT. "Even the outskirtsss.And nexxxxt sstop iss Pumadyne, right boysss?" he asked his vines with glee.The vines snikered in chorus.Razor looked at T-bone, who gave him the same look. RT was at the salvage yard, probably held hostage by those vines, like the rest of the city.They despirately hoped she was OK. "What are we gonna do,guys ?" asked Callie.She was glad to see the Swat Kats alive, and even more to see that Mayor Manx had fainted. "Don't worry Ms. Briggs." said Feral, and then lowered his voice,"My niece will take care of the situation." "The Leutanent's out there?" asked T-bone, surprised. "Yes,she managed to escape.Perhaps she has a plan." replyed Feral, having full faith in his niece.Somehow, he doubted it after a thinking for a while. 'Tribal Dance' faded out and, after a second, a *Bhangra* remix began to play.Funny, RT expected something else to happen.She felt herself breathing. That meant she was still alive.She forced her eyes open and was surprised to see withered and dead vegetation piled up in a neat circle around her.Some of it was even on her.She dusted it off quickly and looked around her.The living room was a mess, but not a single vine was in sight.She ran to the kitchen, and then to Chance and Jake's room Same scene in those rooms.She then remembered the hanger. She rushed down the hatch and switched on the lights when she reached the bottom.She froze as she turned towards the hanger.The place was full of vines. They seemed to be having a good time trying out Jake's many gadgets.There were now more holes in the hanger than RT would never dream of making.Wow, Chance and Jake are gonna have their hands er.. paws full.Suddenly, she slapped her head. Chance and Jake, they could be in trouble or something.She then shook her head.They could take care of themselves.Right now, the hanger needed more help.She tried to figure out what destroyed those vines in the living room . She put off the music from her walkman to help her think better when she saw the vines, fiddling with...HER BIKE. "HEY!" she screamed.She got the attention of all the vines. "Oh no." she said softly.The vines lunged for her at amazing speed.RT soon found herself being squeezed by their tendrils.She began to feel dizzy from lack of air.Her fingers went over one of the buttons on the walkman.She was about to pass out when the tendrils pushed her finger against the walkman and put it on. The bhangra began to play again and immediately, all the vines cocooned around her withered and crumbled to the ground.RT fell on her knees for a moment to catch her breath.She then realised what had happened in the living room.The vines must be allergic to earth music or something.She then noticed more vines just come towards her and wither and crumble the same way as the others did . The rest of the vines disappeared through where they came, trying despirately to get out of range.Soon the hanger was only filled with dead vegetation and not a single vine was in sight.RT now knew she had the solution to the city's problem,well,vaguely.She still was not sure whether *all* music had the same effect Anyway, she knew that her music stopped them.Now she had to find her friends and tell them.RT's mind raced.She knew they were at a place called City Hall.Jake told her before that it was a municipal building and it was located at the centre of the city.She rushed up the hatch and into the living room where she left the encyclopedia.Luckily, it was still intact save a few pages.She turned to the map of Megakat city. Sure enough, City Hall was smack in the centre, and there were many roads leading to it from the salvage yard. "I'm sure to get lost." she thought,inspecting the map,"I'll never find them. If only I was a bloodhound.I could track them down or..." She then remembered Jake telling her that that beeping thing on the glovatrix was designed to track down anyone wearing another glovatrix.He made it so that either of the Swat Kats could track each other down if they get separated for some reason.Good ol' Jake, always prepared. RT rushed back to the hanger.She had waisted enough time already.She remembered seeing a glovatrix lying around somewhere.She then spotted it on the floor."Aha!" she said and picked it up.She pressed a tiny button on it and a radar opened up with a small blip on it.*OK* thought RT and rushed for her helmet.She put it on and took the key to her scooter."Bike, you're needed in action!" she said to her scooter and jumped on it.The scooter roared to life and RT took off like a rocket out of the hanger. Viper didn't look so happy about something.The group in the corner soon found out why."WHAT DO YOU MEAN *YOU CAN'T FIND HER!" he screamed at the top of his voice. The vines quivered in front of him.Even though he was shorter than them ,they knew he knew how to destroy them."Search every crack and vent in this building until you find her.It would be impossible for her to get out." He was, of course, referring to Lt. Felina Feral. The Commander shook his head.He just had to hand it to his niece, she's a very cunning she-kat. "The Leutenant must have found a really good hiding place." said Razor. "I gotta hand it to her,she is one cunning she-kat." said T-bone, looking at Feral.Surprisingly, Feral was smiling a little. RT couldn't understand what to do next.The blip on the radar had not moved ever since she left the hanger and gone on a straight road to the city . "Maybe there has to be another one." she thought. The idea made sense to her.She pushed the button again and another blip appeared on the radar, this time it moved as she did , a little away from the stationary one."Yes!" she said and accelerated. The scooter moved fast.RT never went this fast in her life. Her paws were sweating and the glovatrix felt heavy on her right paw.But she held on and went as fast as the scooter would go, which was pretty fast.The engine was too good for the scooter's body and it felt like it would go to pieces due to the speed.It held on , never the less. The vines on the road just fizzled and crumbled as she went through them. The walkman was playing heavy metal and pop, louder than ever. RT reached City Hall.It was a caotic sight- enforcers and the media were all tied up by the vines and the building looked like an overflown green house.That sickening green made RT feel nauseous.She fought it and entered through the back door.The vines came to get her and were caught in a trance by the music and crumbled as they came nearer.RT then realised that the plants also had an affinity to music.Maybe mummy was right about plants liking music. She tried the elevator, but it was stuck.Guess she had to take the stairs.She sighed and ran up the long fleet of stairs.She reached the sixth floor when she stopped to catch her breath.This was hard work. She was about to lean against the wall when a paw grabbed her around her mouth and dragged her into a dark, cramped corner.She thought fast and dodged the punch that was brought down on her.She looked up and made out a familiar face.The face seemed to have recognised her too. "Felina?" she asked slowly. "RT?" said Felina, in the dark."How the hell did you get away from those vines?" she then asked. "I have a secret weapon." said RT, smiling at Felina's surprised look. "How did *you* get away from them?" she asked Felina. "I got lucky, I guess.The vines didn't think of looking in here..." Suddenly, the vines tore out of the stairway and into the dark corner where Felina and RT were. RT put her arms around a rather shoked Felina and the vines fell into their trance and crumbled as they came close to them.Soon the nearer vines were destroyed too and the ones who were out of range slithered away. "What was that all about?" asked Felina when RT released her. "I'm trying to protect you from those things." RT said. "See, the music of my walkman has that effect on them." she continued, "They seemed to be attracted by the music but die when they get too close. All we have to do is amplify the music a little more to increase the range." "What music?" asked Felina.RT shook her head.It looked like none of the kats could hear the music but she couldn't bother about that now. "Oh, you can't hear it." she said,"I guess only me and those vines can hear it." "Those vines and I." corrected Felina. "Whatever." she said in her wierd accent,visibly annoyed.Felina smiled. "We can transmit the sound waves through the radio and TV using the broadcasting station , but I don't know how to do that.That walkman of yours looks pretty antique." "We can use the music you can hear." said RT, hoping it would have some effect too.Felina shook her head. "That's no good.About 90% of the population listen to music all day.The vines would have been destroyed sooner." "Then it's up to the antique." said RT, looking at the walkman. "Ja..Razor would know how to connect a walkman to a transmitter but I don't know where they are." "I bet paws down that they'er at the Mayor's office,along with the Deputy Mayor and my uncle.Come on." Felina pulled RT and they both ran up the stairs.RT tried her best to run along side Felina but she didn't have the stamina.There were no vines on the stairway this time.They seemed to have got the message. The two of them reached the Mayor's office and RT weezed and puffed."Nice workout,huh?" said Felina,not a bit shaken. "Ya.Right." RT replyed and looked up at Felina face which was somewhat glowing. "This is the Mayor's office.Let's bust in ." said Felina pointing to the door and was about to push through it when RT stopped her. "No! You're not protected.The range of the walkman is only big enough for one person." Felina thought for a minute.RT continued to speak,"If you wear the walkman you'll also attract most of the vines.When they're distracted, I can sneak in and free the others." "Oh no you don't." said Felina looking stern," That thing's gonna keep you safe.You create the diversion while I sneak in." "OK." said RT. It made sense to her,and whatever made her friend happy was OK with her.Besides, it was an opportunity toget really close to some action. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU CAN'T GO THERE'" screamed Viper on the other side of the door.He was getting really pissed off at something but T-bone or Razor couldn't say what it was.The tight tendrils were causing their limbs to go to sleep.They weren't too pleased about being that close to Feral.Atleast Callie was there,and Manx had woken up and had fainted again "You can't damn stop a little she-kitten from getting here? You incompetent baffoons!" They then heared a knock on the door.They stopped whatever they were doing and wondered what stupid door-to-door saleskat would sell stuff when mutated vines were taking over the city.A vine suddenly crashed through the door only to be crumbled to dust. Viper could hear a faint and annoying sound.In came a black, tiny she-kat through the hole in the door. She was clicking her claws and swaying as if listening to one of those songs those darn teenagers would listen to .Suddenly Viper realised what happening. "If you wanna be my baby it don't matta if you're black or white..." RT was singing, and then stopped."Hi! Is this a private party or what?" "Get that kat!" screamed Viper.Some of them lunged foward to meet their fate.The others who were out of range stayed there. "I'm sure having a good time here." RT said laughing.Viper knew he was defeated.This she-kitten has found out how to destroy the vines.He quickly ran for the window and slided down the vines outside. "Hey Doc! Don't leave yet." Screamed RT after him and laughed gleefully. Felina had used the distraction to sneek up to the hostages and snip them free. "Thanks Leutenant." said Razor. "Yeah,I was getting board sitting next to your uncle." said T-bone stretching. "You OK,uncle?" asked Felina, looking at Feral's stern face.He nodded grimly, his eyes on the black kat. "What's that?" he said, pointing to her. "Long story." said Felina. "RT, what in Basted's name are you doing here." said Razor rushing towards RT.She turned back from the window to look at him. "Saving your tails." she said simply,"Razor, can you hook up my walkman to the player in the broadcasting station?" "Do Kats have tails?" said Razor. "Then let's go.I think Doc has figured out what's going on.He's got something up his sleeve." "Right." The others had been informed about the situation by Felina. "Razor and I'll take the turbokat if it's still there and I saw a copper on the roof." said T-bone. "We'll take that." said Felina. "And I'll take the bike.It's parked downstairs." finished RT. "Lets roll!" said Callie, thrilled at the team work that was going on. "Right!" said Feral, eager to get back at Viper. The team split up.RT went down the stairs with Feral's communicator given to her with much reluctance.Cilmbing down the stairs proved to be more comfortable than climbing up.When she reached down, the communicator cracked."RT, are you ready?" came T-bone's voice. "Ya, I'm ready." she said, sitting on her scooter. "We'll meet at the broadcasting station.Follow the blip like you did last time.T-bone out." RT put off the communicator and started her bike, then looked up as the jet and the chopper hovered and flew over the buildings.She raced down the road, following the blip as before.The walkman was playing 'The heat is on'. The heat sure was on , thought RT as she raced through the vines on the road who seemed to be retreating. The turbokat and the enforcer chopper landed on the roof of the brodcasting station of Kat's Eye News, the city's local news group.The group headed down the stairs.They were not attacked by the vines. They probably did not want to take on anyone with a weapon that they couldn't go up against.News among vines sure travels fast. The news room was two floors below them.When they entered they were immediately attacked by vines and cocooned again.They probably realised that they did not have the walkman.News definately travels fast among vines. "Swat Kats! What are you doing here?" asked Ann Gora, the group's best reporter. "We're waiting for our secret weapon to show up." said Razor,secretretively wishing RT wouldn't be so fussy about her bike.She could have gone with the chopper and they would have saved time.Oh well, it means as much to her as the turbokat means to him and T-bone, he thought. "What's the secret weapon." asked Ann, responding to her reporter instincts. "Well, let me explain..." Feral shook his head again.This was not going as he planned. The other blip had stopped moving and RT had a fix on where they were.She arrived at the news building and entered it.She tried the elevator but it didn't work.She sighed and prepared herself for another workout.She didn't notice a pair of gleaming eyes watching her. Suddenly she felt herself being pushed to the ground by something."Ssstay right there kitty.I'm not going to let you ruin my planssss." came that reptilian voice which sent a chill down her spine.But she tried to sound unaffected. "Eeeee.What's up Doc?" she said teasingly.She felt herself being turned around with force to face Viper.She looked straight into his glowing eyes. That made her frightened and it took all of her mental strength to not show her fear. "Don't act sssmart.I can tear you into shreads if I wanted to." "Oh, ya? Then why don't you do it?" said RT, aware of the sudden break in her voice, and then, the sudden pause coming from Viper.She hesitated for a moment and then lifted up her glovatrix to him and straned her wrist. The glovatrix worked on pressure given by parts of the wrist and fingers. She was so scared that she didn't mind what came out of the glovatrix,anything to get his glare off her. A bolo missle fired and the net swung him to the far side of the room and pinned him.RT was thankful it wasn't any of those other missles.She rushed up the stairs as fast as she could, following the beeping sound of another tracker Razor showed her.The glovatrix weighed a ton and it was beginning to hurt her.Atleast that song from Ace of Base kept her going. The tracker lead her to a news room .Exhausted, she slammed the door open.She saw the whole team all wrapped up,again.The vines near the door crumbled, followed by a few more who were in range to be trapped by the music.The other vines got the message and disappeared out of the window. "What took you so long?" said Razor with relief. "Viper was down there." panted RT."He knew what we were gonna do." "And do it quickly." wimpered Manx,who was keeping quiet for so long that everyone,except Callie, forgot he was there."That maniac is going to ruin my city." "Don't worry Mayor." assured Callie,"I'm sure they'll do it in time." "C'mon RT. You help me rig up your walkman to the transmitter.We're gonna broadcast that music of yours to every corner of the city." "And it won't be a bother to you 'cause you can't hear it." RT said, looking at Feral. "Just get on with it." said Feral gruffly. "Felina, can you and T-bone hold off the vines,if any, while we rig up the walkman 'cause it's gonna be off for some time." "Will do." said Felina, readying her gun. "Count on it." said T-bone readying his glovatrix. RT put off the walkman and she and Razor set to work. After a few minutes Viper stormed into the room,with all the vines he could possiply bring into the room. "The sssound iss off." said Viper to the vines."Ssso get them." The vines hesitated at first, then lunged foward.Felina, T-bone,Feral and Callie too fired as much as they could(Callie fired with RT's glovatrix from a safe distance).The vines took time to realise that that sound was not on, and then attacked more voilently.Suddenly they all withered away.Every vine in the room crumbled and a few more outside got caught in the trance, entered the room and crumbled too.Viper was holding his ears and was wincing from pain.He ran to the window again where a vine was waiting for him a little below.As it came up due to the sound he slid down to the ground and disappeared down a kathole.The group knew the 'earth' music was on .They could just hear the humming of the machinery but they knew it was playing as RT was swaying with the beat. "Well that takes care of that." said Razor when the room was free from vines."Now to broadcast it to the entire city.Ann," he turned to Ann Gora, who was capturing every moment on film,muttering to herself *What a story*, turned her attention to the Swat Kat. "Will you inform the citizens to keep their radios and TV's on?" Razor asked plesantly. "With pleasure." replyed Ann and got to her work. Every TV and radio which had been on before this whole magilla started rang out with Ann Gora's voice."This is Ann Gora of Kat's Eye News.The Swat Kats have found a way to defeat the mutated vines.We will be broadcasting certain sound waves which cannot be heared by us.All citizens please do not turn off your radios or television sets.I repeat, please do not turn off your radios or television sets.Transmission starts in 15 seconds." Back in the newsroom,Ann waved to Razor and RT. "Lets ROCK THIS CITY!" screamed RT and switched on the walkman.A song belonging to her language began to play.It started with a little classical note.The music touched her heart as it always did and she began to sing along.The others couldn't understand the language but they were surprised at how well RT could sing.Yes, her voice was beautiful, even though she didn't look it, but who cares about looks anyway. RT was not bothered about them right now.The music suddenly turned funky.RT jumped up and down with the beat and sang along, thoroughly enjoying the music. "Ka-lu-rie Sa-lai!" she screamed with the beat and swayed to and fro. "Ka-lu-rie Sa-lai!" she repeated and sang the tune along with the synthesizer. She danced towards the volume control and put it on maximum.The whole city resounded with the funky beat and the wierd lyrics.She wouldn't stop there. "I'M GOIN' TA PAR-TY ALL NIGHT LONG!" she screamed and danced. Unfortunately, the rest of the city couldn't hear a thing.All the citizens were released from the vines and went to bed, remebering to clean up in the morning.The two Ferals returned to Headquarters and got everything back to normal,mainly because Feral didn't want to be near a half crazy teenage she-kat going overboard.The Swat Kats stayed with RT. "Y'know Razor." said T-bone to his partner,"Maybe you can get us to listen ta some of that earth music.It looks like it has a groovy beat." "Hmmm.Maybe I should try that sometime,T-bone." said Razor,looking at the alien enjoy herself. RT played everything she had in that school bag of hers. All the songs that were available, in the many languages of her beloved planet 'Earth'.Too bad no one on this planet could enjoy like she did.Viper was in the sewers, screaming his head off.The noise was the most annoying noise he had ever heared and it was deafning him.That she kat had to be a noise lover, like the rest of her youthful kind.He couldn't hear music. Just a loud,terribly annoying noise,which was driving him out of his mind.He thought he would never live through the night. "Wake up guys!Wake up!" came RT's enthusiastic voice through Chance's dream.He woke up and shook his head and looked down at himself to find out that he was not Chance but still T-bone."Wha...?" he managed to utter and saw his partner lying down next to him, slowly waking up from his sleep.He looked up to see the alien's smiling face. "You guys looked so cute,cuddled up like that." she teased and giggled. "Wha...?" said Razor, now aware of his surroundings. "Party's over guys.Let's go home." said RT and leaned foward and spoke in a softer voice."The yard's a mess.A big mess." The two Swat Kats got up and straightened their clothes and the three of them walked to the door. "Where is everyone." asked T-bone. "They went home.They'll be back here to work soon.So let's go home." "Where's the turbokat?" asked Razor. "On the roof where you left it last night.I gotta go get my bike." She waved at them and headed downstairs.The two Swat Kats went to the roof, still dazed and got into their respective places.The turbokat took off followed by a white scooter with a black young she-kat riding it on the road below. The trio reached the salvage yard .The hanger door opened allowing the turbokat and the scooter to go in.When the jet was in place the two kats removed their helmets and their masks. "Look at this place." said Jake with his eyes wide open,eyeing his broken inventions. "Sorry I couldn't prevent this." said RT slowly coming towards them and removing her helmet. "I didn't say it was your fault." said Jake looking at his young friend.He then gave her a tight hug.Chance watched with interest. "Thanks Jake." said RT,and then looked at Chance.She walked towards him and gave him a hug too. "Thanks Chance." she said and looked at both of them. "Well, since I'm not going back home,might as well get used to this place." She walked away from them and suddenly collasped.Chance managed to catch her. "What's wrong?" he asked Jake. "She's sleeping." said Jake with a smile."This is what you feel after partying all night." Chance shook his head."Kids." they both said together and carried her into the living room.They had a problem as the couch was smashed.RT slept in Chance's room on a mattress.That night,she would sleep in Jake's room and this would carry on alternatively until they could get a new couch. THE END (for now) Author's Note:The beginning song that RT transmits is a filmy song and it is in my regional language.It is not a commertial song and so there is no album available on it anywhere else, I think.But that song was playing in my neighbor's house in full volume and I couldn't resist. Mustafa,Mustafa.Don't worry Musthafa, Kalam nam thozan Musthafa......(Rock guitar tune) Day by day,day by day, Vazkai payanam,day by day Muzgatha ship-ae friendship tha....(Another Rock guitar tune) Oo-oo-ooh, Yea-aa-ah, friend-ship.....(Big Rock guitar tune)