Alone in the Dark by StarCat/§tevenie §teppenwolfe Summary: In an alternate timeline, Gina Lynx re-encounters the SWAT Kats. Is she trying to use them, or does she really want to turn her life around? ¤¤¤This is my first fan fiction, but I ain't making any excuses. I've been writing for a while, so if it sucks, I be stoned! (As in stones thrown at me...not high....) Furthermore, there is mention of previous events as if they have already happened. Well, I'll write those next, but with this I found it easier to start in the middle of the series, giving it a bit of hidden background to make it work. Whatever. Enjoyness!¤¤¤ Author Note: Shadow vomiting has been taken from Marc Silvestri's comic The Darkness, Gina Lynx and Jaque-Tabby are Cheese Danish's. Chapter One Another dark night in the City. What "city"? Is it necessary to ask? Megakat City. The definition of "city" itself. A big place, to say the least. Big and merciless. Big, *dirty* and merciless. "The smog is hanging low and thick tonight," T-Bone muttered to his partner, turning on the windshield wipers of their jet, the Turbokat. "Yeah. We'll have to wash this thing when we get back to the hangar," Razor answered, fiddling with a couple instruments on his panel. No big explosions. The police blotter he was listening to in his left ear was clear beside the ever-witty banter of night cops. Just as the rust-coloured tom began to yawn, he heard something in his earphone. Turning it up, he listened in, dropping the squelch minutely. "Dark...so cold..so cold....so lonely..." "Unit 9-4! Come in 9-4! Are you there?" There was utter silence. "Calling squadron three to the block of Shelley and Mace! What appears to be a cloud of smoke has filled the area, unit sent to evacuate has been taken down, over." "Did you hear all that, buddy?" Razor asked, tapping his partner on the helmet. T-Bone nodded, his eyes narrowing grimly as he banked the jet south toward the disturbance. "I have a *bad* feeling about this, pal." ¤¤¤ "You all thought I was crazy before. Well look at me now. Never thought I'd accomplish anything, hey mom? Well, guess what, I accomplished your death, didn't I?" A short, black tomkat with silver hair and glowing red eyes laughed up at the sky, stumbling down the abandoned street, laughing. Behind his lashing tail, the shadows that surrounded him started rippling and followed him like dust follows a semi-truck. It slithered and screeched as it moved. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" The kat fell to his knees, his blue denim jeans stained by the wet shadows. Above him a cloud of thick black swirled, opening only for the blood-red light of the moon. Suddenly, the shirtless kat pricked a tall, ragged ear. Catching the sound, he looked up at the hole in the dark storm and caught the sight of a couple Enforcer choppers buzzing by. He studied them for a moment, then a smirk crept across his face. "Yes. More. Send more. We are hungry." And, all around him, the shadows cried out in bloodlust and anger. No more. We will die for the light no more. ¤¤¤ "You know," T-Bone growled, looking at the bloodmoon in the sky and the swirling blackness beneath it, "I wish we lived in a city with normal crimes. You know, with guns and stuff like that. I mean this-" He gestured at the mess ahead of them, right as an Enforcer chopper disappeared into a shadow and didn't come out of the other end, and the shadows reached up and grabbed another helicopter, pulling it down into the circular bank. "What the hell *is* this?" He moved up to circle safely above and away from the shadowbank. "Maybe it's the Pastmaster..." T-Bone shook his head. "Last time we fought him we sent him into the vortex of Oblivion, remember?" "Yeah, but he's a tricky little guy. Besides, I'd rather deal with him than someone *new*." T-Bone nodded at the logic. "Roger that, kiddo." A couple yards off, they landed on a roof and jumped out. Razor dug a couple gold cuffs from his sidepack. He tossed one to T-Bone. "Put that on." "What is it?" T-Bone slipped it over his large bicep, and it contracted and molded itself to his arm. It flexed like skin when he moved his muscle and shined iridescently. "Something Sisciva gave to me. It wards off most magic." T-Bone shook his head as he followed his partner, rappelling off the side of the office tower. There was so much about his friend's little meeting with that weird, mute she-kat he just didn't know about. His eyes narrowed in thought of her. Light silver fur, wide, pupiless yellow eyes, huge flame-orange and yellow hair with red streaks. He shook his head. They walked slowly to the site, toward a large dark orb. Tentatively, T-Bone stuck his paw in. It disappeared, and he grabbed it back. Nothing. Everything was fine. The masked vigilantes entered the field of dark magic, their fur standing on end. Though most of the magic couldn't get them, it was still cold. T-Bone watched his breath exit in a puff, and then, to his surprise, saw it crystalize and get sucked into some nearby shadows. T-Bone shivered then, and it had nothing to do with the cold. A she-kat with large orange bangs, a long black braid, and rose-pink fur zoomed down the MKC freeway, dodging cars at over 150mph. She came upon a long flat-bed truck and jumped the bike onto the empty platform, riding up a plank and flying over the cab, hitting the road in a shower of sparks and a large squeal. She quickly regained her control and raced off the exit ramp and into residential streets as she heard a helicopter over her. "This is the Enforcers! Stop now or-" It stopped abruptly as the vehicle overhead suddenly disappeared. Shrugging, the she-kat refocused on the road. Not a mile ahead, the city block was dark, black clouds hovering ominously. She squinted at them briefly, but kept on driving as a series of Enforcer cruisers came in behind her. As she neared the orb, her fur stood on end, and she shivered once. 'Odd. There must be a draft in this part of town. It's creepy enough as it is...' The cruisers nearing, the petite she-kat just shook the feeling off and kept driving. As soon as the SWAT Kats entered, they were bombarded by noise. All around them, the shadows slithered, making slimy clicking noises, and sometimes high-pitched whining. Razor narrowed his eyes at the sound. "Euh...god, that's awful." At his words, the shadows pounced toward Razor, screaming like twisted metal, but were stopped by the field and, in a bright flash, were gone. New shadows, however, moved in to take their place, and Razor edged away, heading further into the orb behind T-Bone. As they grew closer to the heart of the projects neighborhood, they heard yelling, and it echoed through the empty neighborhood a thousand times over, resonating through the darkness itself. They turned a corner and saw a crazed-looking black-furred tom kat in black pants with dark silver fur and smoldering red eyes. He was sputtering nonsense, and thrusting his arms to the sky, and the shadows slithered up and down his body, moving in and out of a circling cyclone of black. The SWAT Kats stopped dead in their tracks, but it was too late. The tom kat, smiling, turned to them and opened his mouth, but before anything could happen, there was a huge screeching noise and then the distant sound of an engine, and the dark tom turned his attention to that. The powerful noise of the engine got louder until there was another, ear-piercing screech and, with a brush of smoke, a she-kat on a shining black and chrome motorcycle appeared. The corner, however, was too much, and the she-kat hit the pavement hard, the bike rolling out from under her and sliding on its side straight for the group of three tomkats. The SWAT Kats jumped out of the way, and the motorcycle surprised the dark tomkat, hitting him in the legs hard. "Argh!" he cried as he toppled down, one of his legs caught between a wheel and the bike. It bent the wrong way at the knee with a loud CRACK! and most of the fur on his calf was stripped away with his skin before the wheel finally stopped. The SWAT Kats turned to look at the she-kat who simply stood brushing herself off as if she hadn't hit the pavement at well over 100 mph. Her clothes, however, begged to differ, and her leather jacket was torn to shreds, as was the whole left side of her leather pants. Underneath these, however, was a silver bodysuit, that was likewise unharmed. Glancing up from herself to the SWAT Kats, she froze, ready to bolt. But, their attention turned to the tom again as he spoke. "You and your new partner may have own this one, SWAT Kats, but you know, it's not over till its over!" With a hyena laugh, he disappeared, all of the shadows disappearing with him. "Hey...he took my bike!" the she-kat growled, and the SWAT Kats turned to her. Before they could say anything, the sound of a hundred helicopters filled the air. "Were you sent by Sisciva?" Razor yelled. "Answer quick!" "Sisciva...er, yes!" The she-kat answered. "Then, come on!" Razor took the she-kat's hand and pulled her toward the Turbokat. Thinking quick, he yelled back to T-Bone, "Jet packs!" With the pink-furred kat in his arms, Razor took off, landing on top of the roof where the Turbokat was and jumping into the jet, setting the she-kat in back. T-Bone landed in the jet and took off, but then growled back to his partner, "What do you think you're doing with her?" He thrust his thumb at the she-kat. "You don't know who she is!" "She saved our tails, T-Bone. And, she said she was sent by Sisciva!" "She could have been sent by that wacko to kill us!" "Sisciva is not a wacko!" "Um...excuse me..." Both the 'Kats turned in their seats to look at the she-kat. "Could you, um, drop me off somewhere?" "Why did Sisciva send you?" Razor asked. The she-kat hung her head. "Look, I'm sorry. I lied about that whole 'Sisciva' thing. Never heard the name in my life." "WHAT?!" Razor yelled. The she-kat glared. "Hey, who saved your tails?" "You lied to me!" "Us. She lied to *us*!" T-Bone growled to Razor. "Remember, that whole 'team' thing?" "Um, hello?" the she-kat called. Both the SWATs glared back at her. "You be quiet!" Razor growled. "Hey! I'm a good guy, alright? Why do you think I came when I did? I want to be a SWAT Kat!" "You WHAT?!" both toms cried. "C'mon? Please? You can trust me!" "The first thing you did was lie to us," T-Bone pointed out. "That...uh...shows my dedication! That I would lie to become one of you!" The she-kat pulled off her mangled jacket. Underneath was a one-armed silver bodysuit that looked like liquid steel, with blue seams. On the left breast-the side with no sleeve - was a small, blue crest. "The Jaque-Tabby seal! You're Benny's girl, aren't you?" T-Bone gasped. "You have no idea HOW MUCH I hate hearing that." "We don't deal with criminals!" Razor put in. "*You* guys are criminals. You think vigilantism is legal?" "We have a good cause!" T-Bone defended. The she-kat sighed. "I wanted out, okay? The only reason I married Benny was to save my sister's life. Yesterday, they killed her anyway. I WANT OUT. And, I want to make up for everything I've done. Before, I was lying about being a SWAT Kat, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds." "You lie an awful lot, don't you? How do we know you're not lying now?" T-Bone replied. Without knowing it, he had found their way to the Salvage Yard and landed in the hangar. "I do whatever it takes for justice. Even if it means deceitfulness. After all, don't you *live* a lie?" "What?" Razor hissed, but then looked at their surroundings. "T-BONE!" T-Bone looked around to. "Um...force of habit?" "Two lowly mechanics who are actually superheros. Cute. Please don't make me hold this over your head. Just make me a SWAT Kat." The she-kat smiled coldly, pulling her ebony black braid over her shoulder. "Damn it!" T-Bone yelled, hopping out. Razor followed, as did the she-kat. "We have no choice!" "You could always kill me..." The she-kat suggested. "No. We're not like *you*," Razor hissed back. The she-kat pouted. "Ouch. That hurt." Then, she laughed. Glaring more, Razor sighed. "Alright. You're in. There's already a locker and a uniform that will probably fit you in the next room over." "NO!" T-Bone roared. "She is NOT using Hera's outfit!" "Let it go, T-Bone. Its been five years." This reply was less angry and more consolatory. Growling, the larger yellow tabby punched his locker, leaving his paw in a fist for a moment, pushing hard against the cold metal. He let his head rest beside his fist, and then said, finally: "Alright. Do what you must. I'll be in the shower."