The creation of KromeKatt Author: Christopher Teo E-mail Address: christeo@singnet.com.sg Hi. This is my fourth fan fiction and I hope that you will enjoy it. But first, I would like to say a few things. The Swat Kats, Megakat City and everyone else in the story that comes from the cartoon, the Swat Kats, are property of Hanna-Barbera. KromeKatt is a character from the Swat Kats role-playing game. Miguel A. Latorre created KromeKatt and I am writing this story with his permission. For anyone who would like to contact him, his e-mail addresses are mlatorre@risc.usi.edu & fury16@hotmail.com. Like I said before in my third fan fiction, Secret Weapon, there are other mammals besides kats in this world, dawgs are one of them. One more thing, when a sentence is put between these two signs, '<<' and '>>', it means that the sentence is being thought out. And now, let the story begin. Professor Lars Kattar tightened the last screw on the cyborg's chest plate. Satisfied, he climbed down the ladder and put the ladder away. Lars Kattar is a Professor of Cybernetics. He has dark brown fur and is around twenty-eight years old, you could say he's quite handsome. He is also quite healthy and possesses intelligence that far surpassed that of his colleagues. Even his golden eyes bear a highly intelligent gleam in them. Right now, he is testing out his latest creation, a giant cyborg. This cyborg could be used for a number of purposes, ranging from difficult manual labor, to dangerous rescue missions. This cyborg could be a magnificent benefit to katkind. Now all he needs to do is to connect the cyborg to the computer system and everything should work out as he planned it. As he walked to the computer with a cable in hand, he sighed. His lab assistant and good friend, Arthur Sarlon is on leave today. It's a pity he would not be around to witness this spectacular event. Maybe he was distracted by this stray thought, or perhaps he was too engrossed in his work, or it could just be because of fate that he did not notice a small figure sneak towards the cyborg. ********** Arthur Sarlon walked slowly back to the building where he worked. This dawg was in no hurry to get back to the mundane work of being a lab assistant. He had just been to a concert by Kitz 2 Kats. He wanted to go out and party until midnight, but then, Lars would be worried sick about him. When Lars got Arthur as a lab assistant, they became fast friends. A car rushed past Arthur and he felt the wind blow back his light brown fur. He was curious about how Lars was doing with the cyborg. Fueled with this curiosity, he quickened his pace. Although it won't be the cyborg he will be more preoccupied with when he gets to the building. ********** Lars hit the last button on the keyboard, thus beginning the activation of the cyborg for his test run. He turned around to watch the cyborg, but as he turned, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye move. He went to investigate, but he didn't find anything. And when the cyborg exploded, he didn't see anything. He just felt a flash of excruciating pain, and then a wave of darkness swept over him. *********** The Enforcer patrol car zoomed past, sirens blaring away. Arthur wondered what was happening. A few others followed it, accompanied by two fire engines and some ambulances. As he watched the vehicles go, a sudden realization came to him. They were all headed to the lab where he worked, where Lars was still working on his cyborg. A sick feeling of fear gripped him and he switched from a casual walk to a run. He ran through the street, pushing anyone in his way aside. He hoped desperately that they were heading for a destination past the lab, anywhere except the lab. He reached the street where the lab was supposed to be, and all his hopes turned to dust. Where there once was a lab, where he and Lars worked on projects to help others, where Lars had been working on a dream he had for a long time, there was now a blazing inferno. Firefighters were helping the injured to safety and the Enforcers were trying to keep curious onlookers back from the flames. If this scene were taking place somewhere else, Arthur would have noticed it, but this was happening at the lab where Lars had been working. Arthur was stunned, standing there like a statue, looking at the flames, as if he expected Lars to rush out at the last minute, but no such thing happened. ********** Arthur rushed through the hospital corridor, he had checked with an Enforcer and found out that all the injured were taken to this hospital. He checked at the counter and found that Lars was alive. He was in such a hurry to find Lars that he nearly collided with a doctor exiting a room. "YEOW! Sorry about that." "Oh. That's okay." "Hey...is this the room Professor Lars Kattar is in?" "Yes it is." "Thanks buddy." Arthur was about to open the door when the doctor stopped him. "Wait. There is something you need to know first..." ********** Lars slowly opened his eyes. He was in a room in the hospital. He felt weak, very weak. He looked around; no one else was in the room with him. He tried to get up, but then, he realized that it was hard for him to move his body. He could only see and hear what was going on. He heard some faint shouting from outside the room, the voice sounded familiar, but he just couldn't remember whose. The door opened, and Arthur came in. Lars smiled a small smile, and then he noticed that Arthur looked sad. "Hey Arthur, why so glum?" His voice was weak and soft. So soft that Arthur could not hear it. "Lars...I have some bad news." "What is it?" Lars tried once again to sit up, but he still couldn't move his body. Arthur rushed ahead and settled him down. "Don't get up." Lars felt confused, he wondered why Arthur was so worried about him, and then he saw a nurse push in a wheelchair. "Arthur, is that for me?" Arthur slowly nodded. "That means I'm...Oh Krud." Lars looked at Arthur with a desperate plea in his eyes, hoping against hope that this is another one of his jokes, but seeing how solemn Arthur was, he realized that it was no joke. He tried once again to move his body, putting all his effort into it, but all that he could do was lie there. There was nothing he could do. Seeing how hopeless the situation was, sadness welled up inside of him and a tear rolled down his face. ********** Lars looked at his reflection. The kat looking back at him did not have the dark brown fur he once had; instead his fur was grayish white. The kat was bony and lanky, with a weak physique. Lars found it hard to believe how he had changed, but he had. He turned away from his reflection in the window and pushed his wheelchair towards his lab. He found out what had happened to him from Arthur. The cyborg he had been working on had become unstable and exploded. The explosion had killed several people, and injured many more. Lars had been thrown several feet back by the shockwave of the explosion. Although Lars Kattar had survived the explosion, he had not done so without cost. Lars was bathed in a strange radiation that was derived from the explosion. It left him severely weakened, and his dark brown for was changed to a strange shade of white. He had to undergo four months of therapy before he could actually move. Soon after that, he had total control over the upper part of his body, but this was not the case for his legs. "Hey Lars, need my help?" Arthur ran up alongside Lars. "Thanks, but I can manage." Arthur walked with Lars to the lab. It will take quite some time for Lars to be able to use his legs, so he has to be confined to a wheelchair until that time. Being the friend that he is, Arthur volunteered to help push his wheelchair whenever such help was needed. In fact, he helped out whenever he can, he even moved in with Lars to help around the house. Lars would have objected to this, but he needed the help too much to refuse it. The radiation had also made Lars very weak permanently. Two other kats in the corridor gave way to Lars when they saw him. Lars could practically feel the contempt they had of him. The severe weakening of his body and the inability to use his legs was not the end of his problems. There were several stories in the tabloids about the accident, most of them blaming him. All the lives that were lost and all the destruction that was caused, because of all this, Lars had been branded as a crazy scientist. He had not been removed from his post because his knowledge of cybernetics was too valuable, but if he caused another accident like this, he will be fired. He had been given a new lab in another building to make his experiments in. "Lars, we're here." Startled, Lars looked at the door of his lab. He had been too deep in thought to notice. Arthur pushed open the door and Lars pushed himself in. Everything that was salvaged from the remains of his old lab was put in here. Some of his things had perished in the explosion, but everything else was still in good condition, except for a few burns here and there. "Well Lars, what are we going to do today? Solve world hunger or discover an alien planet thriving with alien life. Hey... we could do both! And now let's plan what to do after lunch..." "Very funny Arthur. I'm just going to go over some of my notes, so I won't need you for a while. Why don't you just go out for a while." "Oh come on, you could go over those darn things anytime you want. Let's go out and shoot rubber bands at the deadbeats at Lab 2." "Arthur. Just go." "Okay, okay, I'm going." Arthur turned towards the door, he opened it and turned back with a serious look on his face. "Hey Lars, you do know the number of my pager right?" "It's 2649038" "Yeah that's it. So if you just need me, just page me." When Arthur closed the door, Lars was alone in the lab. Ever since the accident, Arthur had tried to keep up a cheery attitude, but Lars knew that he was really worried. Arthur was always there for him, ready to lend a helping hand. Before, Lars didn't need that much help, but now... Lars looked at a heavy box on the table, he tried to lift it up. He could have lifted it with ease, but that was the old Lars. Exhausted, he gave up. He yelled out in frustration, and put his head in his paws. He was so weak now, what can he do now? With no answer to this question, he just sat there in his wheelchair and wept. ********** "Is this where you want the stuff, Professor Kattar?" "Yes." The kat dumped the boxes onto the floor. Now that he was done, he opened the door to leave and nearly bumped into Arthur as he was walking in. "Woah! Excuse me buddy." "No problem." As Arthur walked into Lars's lab, he noticed Lars opening the boxes on the floor. "Hey Lars, what're in the boxes." "The remains of my cyborg from the explosion." "Oh, and if you don't mind me asking, what the heck would you want with them?" "I need to find out what went wrong with the cyborg. I just can't understand it. I had already checked every little detail of the cyborg, everything was in order, and yet..." "Lars, things like this happen. You don't have to beat yourself up over this." "PEOPLE DIED! They died because of my carelessness. Now I need to find what I did wrong, so it won't happen again." "...Okay then. Do you need me to help?" "No. I'll be fine on my own, you can go off now." "Yeah, and remember, you can page me if you need my help." Lars nodded and went back to studying the remains of what had been his dream. Arthur walked to the door and hesitated for a while. He turned back to see if Lars was all right. Lars was still going over what was left of his cyborg. Reassured, he turned the handle of the door and left. Arthur thought about Lars as he walked down the corridor to the elevator. Ever since the accident, Lars had been blaming himself for the explosion, for all the lives that had been ruined, and in fact, so did a lot of other people. This accident wrecked his entire life. Although one thing in the back of his head bothered Arthur, Lars has always been careful when it came to experiments, and even if he did make a mistake, it couldn't have been this bad. Something wasn't quite right about the whole thing, but Arthur just couldn't place his finger on it. ********** Lars Kattar examined the parts of his cyborg that had not been incinerated by the blast. He blamed himself totally for the accident that had happened because of the accident. All that destruction, all those lives, and his as well, ruined by just one small moment of carelessness. He was so miserable, that he almost overlooked something, but he didn't. He carefully picked up the small fragment from the rest of the parts on the table. It was not part of his cyborg. The fragment was made of the wrong kind of metal. He searched through the rest of the parts brought to him. There were three more fragments like it. He looked at the fragments more closely. Suddenly, he realized what they were fragments of. They were part of a bomb. Lars now knew what had happened; the cyborg had been sabotaged. A bomb had been placed near the power source of the cyborg, and when it went off, it caused the power source to become unstable and caused an even larger and more powerful explosion. Five minutes ago, Lars had been overwhelmed with grief and sorrow, but when Lars yelled, his cry was full of rage and anger. ********** "Uh-oh, this looks bad." Arthur had just entered the lab and saw Lars holding a revolver in his hand. Lars heard the door to the lab open and turned around to see who it was. "Oh boy... now what am I going to do?" "Don't worry Arthur, I'm not going to shoot myself." "That's good, and if you don't mind me asking... WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH A REVOLVER IN YOUR PAW!?" "I'm going to find out who did this to me and why." "Uh... could you slow down for a second? I don't understand what you're talking about." "The cyborg was sabotaged." "Holy... do you have any proof?" "When they shipped the parts of the cyborg that survived the explosion to me, I found some fragments that were made of a different metal from that of my cyborg." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure. I ran some tests on the fragments. They were also very similar to parts of a bomb. I also checked the remaining parts of my cyborg. There were no errors at all. Even if I did make a mistake, it couldn't have resulted in that great an explosion." "All right. With all this evidence, you could just hand it over to the enforcers and clear your name." "No. I can't do that. It will alert whoever sabotaged the cyborg, and there isn't enough proof to matter much anyway." "What do you mean 'not enough'?" "The enforcers would probably think that I'm just trying to salvage my reputation. I can't prove who did it and why and there is no way to show that I didn't cause the accident!" "So... what about the gun?" "I'll find out who did this to me, and I'll do what I have to do." "Lars, you should take some time-off. Cool down. You can't just go around looking for some guy with a loaded revolver. You don't even know who it is. Besides, you're... you know." "THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I'M DOING THIS! LOOK AT ME! I'm as weak as a newborn child. The person who caused the explosion did this to me. AND I'LL FIND HIM AND MAKE HIM PAY!" "WELL WHAT CAN YOU DO? RUN OVER HIM?" Arthur couldn't stop himself in time. Lars tightened his fists in anger and did not answer. "Sorry Lars. I'll help you, but not in any direct confrontations. I'll see if I can find out anything about any one that might want to sabotage your cyborg." Arthur turned around and left the lab. Lars looked at the revolver in his hand. Frustrated, he threw the revolver to the floor. It didn't go off, mainly because it wasn't loaded. He slumped back into his wheelchair. "What can I do?" As he looked around the lab, looking for whatever that may help him, his eyes fell onto the plans for his cyborg and various other projects. Slowly, an idea began to form in his mind and a small grin appeared on his face. He wheeled himself over to the table and started redesigning the plans. One could almost see the determined gleam in his eyes. ********** Lars wheeled himself up onto the van with the help of a flat sheet of steel. He looked around the gray van. He had bought the van with some money he had been saving up. It was quite large, and yet inconspicuous. Arthur considered this to be a wise move because of the accident. It would make life for Lars much easier. There was a lot of space in the van. Lars nodded with satisfaction and lifted the large sheet of tarp he had in his lap onto the floor of the van. He quickly moved out of the van and replaced the sheet of steel. He then returned to his lab. He picked up a box of tools and opened it. Making a quick check to see if everything he needed was there, he closed it and went out of the lab. The parts that he had ordered should be coming soon. He had ordered different parts from various places. This way, there was less chance of someone discovering what he was building. He also further minimized that chance by getting many of the parts that he needed from the scrap yard. The two mechanics there seemed to be suspicious of his intentions. Although he explained that he needed some extra parts for his experiments, they still seemed to be a little bit suspicious. The doors to the lift opened and two kats brought the parts Lars needed. He signed the necessary papers and the parts were left in the lab. When the kats left, Lars picked up his toolbox and opened it again, he took out a wrench and began his work on the parts. Whether it takes ten days or ten weeks or even ten months, he will finish it. Even if it kills him. ********** A figure stood on the roof of a building. Its attention was on a small warehouse across the road. The warehouse was supposed to be empty tonight, but someone else had other plans. An arms dealer was using the place to sell several weapons to a group of terrorists. These weapons could bring about many deaths, and this silent watcher was not going to allow that. As the figure stood there, the light from the moon gleamed off his chrome armor. Although the kat in the armor would not just stand idly by when such an act was taking place, he is not one who rushes into a situation unprepared. <> In immediate response to his thought, the computer shows the kat an infrared image of the warehouse on the screen in his helmet. After a short time, it can be distinguished that there are at least sixteen armed terrorists. <> A small table appears at the upper left of the screen, stating the amount of ammunition or power each of his many weapons have. <> <> <> Fully prepared, the kat stands on the roof facing the warehouse. <> ********** When the armored kat crashed through the ceiling, the terrorists paused for a while, partly due to the sudden shock of the attack, and partly because of the size of the attacker. This gave the kat enough time to contain some of the terrorists. <> A small compartment on his right arm opened, launching a net that snared four of the terrorists. The terrorists soon realized what was happening and started firing on the armored attacker, but the bullets nearly bounced off his armor. He launched another net but it was dodged. Choosing another approach, he casually walked over to a giant and heavy crate. He picked it up as if it was merely made of paper, and threw it at another two terrorists, knocking them unconscious. A terrorist threw a grenade at him, but he merely batted it away with the back of his hand. He then opened his paw and fired a laser from it, hitting a barrel of oil, causing it to explode, and dealing with five other terrorists. One of the remaining few still conscious had run out of bullets for his rifle and in a final desperate attempt to stop the unknown assailant, ran over and used it as a club. The armored attacker did not even flinch; instead he snatched the weapon from the shocked kat and crushed it into pieces with his armored paws. He looked at the terrorists. "I suggest that those of you still conscious had better surrender now." Seeing no other choice, the terrorists raised their paws as a sign of surrender. He walked over to the kat that had been his original purpose for coming here. As the armored kat walked closer to him, the arms dealer gulped. "Wh...Who are you?" "My name is of no concern now." Another small compartment opened on the armored figure's leg, from it, he took out some pieces of shrapnel. "These are pieces of a bomb, the type of bomb that you sell." "Th...That? I sell those to only one person, and if I tell you, he'll kill me!" "What makes you think I won't kill you if you DON'T tell me." The arms dealer gulped again, and with no other option, he told the armored kat who it was. ********** At six in the morning, a jogger made his daily jog around the city, as he rounded the corner leading towards Enforcer HQ, he was startled by what he saw. Around sixteen people were in front of the entrance of the building with a lamppost wrapped around them. ********** Arthur read the headlines of a newspaper "'Terrorists caught and brought to justice by unknown hero'. This looks interesting." He walked into the lab and saw that Lars wasn't there. "Hmmm, where could Lars be? Maybe he's in the van." Arthur walked back to the elevator to take it down to the car park. While waiting for the elevator, he read the newspaper. Yesterday night, someone dressed in armor attacked sixteen terrorists while they were buying weapons. Bullets just bounced off the armor and he had incredible strength. He also had an assortment of weapons located inside his armor. The Enforcers had little trouble getting the information from the terrorists. They were too shaken up by the whole event. It was suspected that the kat in armor is a Swat Kat, but more information is needed to actually confirm it. <> The lift doors opened and Arthur stepped into the lift. Once he got to the car park, he made a beeline for Lars' van. Unexpectedly, when he got to the van, he noticed someone moving in the van. When he looked through the van's window, he immediately ducked out of sight. He did not get a very good look at whoever was inside the van, but he did see that the person was standing, so it couldn't be Lars. He looked around for a weapon, and armed himself with a plank. It might be a thief in the van. He braced himself, and flung the doors of the van open. "OKAY PAL! GIVE UP OR I'LL--I'll whack you with this plank? Uh-oh." The kat in the van was dressed head to toe in some kind of armor. Arthur just stood there in shock for a while, with no idea what to do. The kat grabbed Arthur by his shirt and pulled him into the van and closed the doors. When Arthur landed on the floor of the van, he saw that there were all sorts of devices in the van, including a big computer and various weapons. The kat in armor walked towards Arthur. He jumped to his feet. "HEY YOU! IF YOU DID ANYTHING TO LARS..." "Calm down Arthur." "You know my name, and you also sound very much like ...Lars, it that you in there?" "Yes Arthur, it is." "Hey... wait a sec, Lars can't walk." In response, the armored kat took off his helmet. Now, Arthur could see who he was, and he was Lars. The two just stood there looking at each other silently. Arthur looking at Lars, surprised by this new predicament, and Lars standing there in his chrome armor, waiting for his reply. "Lars... You can walk?" "Only with the help of this armor." "B...but how?" "There's no time to explain. I need to leave immediately." "Slow down buddy, give me some time to--to gasp at your really big gun?" Arthur has noticed Lars lifting up a giant gun in his left hand. "Unless I miss my guess, that there is a Scorpion 16 Plasma Cannon, and is that a gattling gun on your right hand?" "Right both times." "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING WITH THOSE!" "I'm going to find the kat that did this to me, and I'll make him pay for what he did." "Yeah, but aren't you going a bit overboard? If you use that cannon on whomever that guy he is and you'll blow him into a cloud of atoms. And for this I would like to use the term, 'OVERKILL'! You don't even know who the guy is!" "I know who he is." "And who would that be Mr. Mass Destruction?" "Dark Kat." "DARK KAT?" "I've checked out the remaining fragments of the bomb. The only one who uses bombs like that is Dark Kat?" "What would Megakat City's most wanted criminal want with you?" "I don't know, so I'm going to find Dark Kat and get the answer from him, by force if necessary." "Well how are you going find him? Put an ad in the Classifieds?" Lars picked up a remote control and pressed a button. A television in the van was switched on, and was now showing a news report. The reporter for Cat's Eye News, Ann Gora, was reporting on a crisis situation. "This Ann Gora for Cat's Eye News reporting to you live at Megakat Tower. Dark Kat has taken Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs along with several other people hostage. He is demanding a million dollars in gold to be delivered to him, or the hostages will die, starting with the Mayor. The Enforcers have sealed off the building and are waiting to make their move. More news on the situation after this." Lars switched off the television. Arthur stood there for a while, and then he turned to face Lars. "You're really going to go after him, aren't you." "I have to Arthur." "Nothing's going to stop you, right?" "Nothing." << I can't believe I'm going to do this>> Arthur jumped into the driver's seat of the van. "Arthur, what are you doing?" "If you're going to confront that lunatic by yourself, the least I should do is help you." "You're a good friend Arthur." "Yeah. City Hall here we come." ********** "Man. I hope no one saw us drive into here." "Probably not. Everyone there was looking at City Hall, not at this street." Arthur parked the van at a small street close to City Hall. He sighed and turned to Lars. "Well Lars, this is your last chance to back out. You're really sure you want to do this?" "I'm not backing out Arthur." "I knew you would say that. Anyway, I have a map of the entire building for..." Lars had put on his helmet and was looking at a map of City Hall that was downloaded from the onboard computer on his armor. It was being displayed on the screen inside his helmet. Arthur wondered what Lars was doing when he slowly realized what was happening. "Silly me. I forgot about your Zendaflex 3550 X onboard computer. Boy does that make me feel dumb. So, are you ready?" "In a minute." <> <> "I'm ready." "Do you have a plan to find Dark Kat?" "I don't know where he or the deputy mayor is, so I'm going to scan each floor for any life forms and hope Dark Kat doesn't find me too soon." "That's a plan?" "There isn't much time. I going in." Lars stood up and headed for the doors of the van, but Arthur stopped him. "Hey wait! What are you going to call yourself?" "What?" "Well you can't just call yourself Lars, you're having enough trouble already with all those scandals. And you should also use something dramatic." "I haven't put much thought into that." "Hmmm. How about... KromeKatt." "KromeKatt... I like it." "Yeah then KromeKatt it is. Good Luck." He nodded and exited the van. Arthur quickly drove the van away from Megakat Tower so as not to arouse suspicion. KromeKatt turned around and faced the tower. He looked at the building for a while, and then he hefted his Plasma Cannon. He lifted up a manhole cover with his left hand and jumped into the sewers, replacing the manhole cover after him. ********** Lieutenant Ferral looked around the corner, there were at least five mercenaries standing guard there. She had sneaked into the building (against her uncle's orders) and managed to take out some of the mercenaries Dark Kat had hired. She had taken one of the walkie-talkies they used and eavesdropped on their conversations. From the information she got, there should still be at least another five more of them in the building. The five mercenaries here should be guarding all the hostages except for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Dark Kat had decided to watch over them personally. Dark Kat made the top floor his headquarters, and probably had all his ugly little creeplings with him as well, along with other of his unpleasant surprises. Taking on five heavily armed goons by herself would be a problem, so she stood still for a while to work out a plan, but in about five seconds, she probably won't need it. A giant fist punched through one of the walls, shocking the five hired guns. When a robot walked through the hole it made, they didn't ask questions and just started firing. The bullets just bounced off his tough armor. He grabbed one of the mercenaries and threw him against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Seeing their guns having no effect, they tried a different approach. One of the mercenaries pulled out a grenade and threw it at the robot. It hit it in the chest and exploded, but the robot merely moved back a step or two. "Nice try." <> He pointed one of his fingers at one of the mercenaries at a dart shot out and hit him in the shoulder. He staggered for a while before falling down unconscious. He swung the rifle he was holding and knocked out another mercenary. One of the last two remaining thugs took out some strange gun and fired it at the armored attacker. It shot out a net and entangled him, but he merely ripped it apart with ease. He pointed his right arm at the mercenary and shot out a net himself, capturing the thug and leaving only one left. By now he was desperate, he had taken out his walkie-talkie and tried to call for back up, but Felina Ferral shot it out of his hand with her blaster and punched his lights out. "Thanks for the help, and who might you be?" "Lieutenant Ferral, and you are?" "KromeKatt. I've heard of you Ms. Ferral, you have a good reputation." "Yeah. Are you with the Swat Kats?" "No. I work alone. Are there any other Enforcers with you?" "No. I came in here by myself." "Just you?" "Yes, just me. The rest of the Enforcers are waiting for further instructions from Commander Ferral." "And I take it you went against that order." "Right. Did you come to help?" "Yes I did. Where's Dark Kat and the hostages?" "Dark Kat's is holding Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs hostage on the top floor. The rest of the hostages are behind that door." "Can you get the hostages out by yourself safely?" "Yes." "Good, all the mercenaries have been incapacitated and I'm going after Dark Kat." "Hey I'm coming with you." "No, someone has to get the hostages out of here." "What? But..." "There's no time to argue, someone has to get the hostages out safely while I go after Dark Kat and that person is you." And with that, KromeKatt walked off, leaving Felina with the hostages. Immediately she opened the doors to the room with the hostages inside. Everyone looked at her with surprise. She looked around and found a security guard. "Get the hostages out of here FAST!" The security guard nodded and got all the hostages to the exit. Felina checked her pistol, and went after KromeKatt. "Uh-uh pal, you're not leaving me behind." ********** KromeKatt reached the lift to the top floor. <> <> "Boy are you easy to catch up with." KromeKatt turned and saw Felina walking towards him. "I thought I told you..." "The hostages are already free and safe, now I'm coming with you to take down Dark Kat." "You are as impossible as they say you are." "Say what you want, but I'm still going with you. And I do hope you realize that the lift is an obvious place to put a trap." "I know, but it's the only way to the top floor. And I'm not going to wait for him to make his move." "You seem very determined to get him. Did he do something to you?" "Yes, something very bad. But it's going to be very dangerous." "Hey what kind of Enforcer would I be if I chickened out whenever there was danger." "Good point." "Are we going up there to kick Dark Kat's tail or are we just going to sit here chatting while having some tea." Felina heard a small chuckle from within the armor. He pressed the button to the lift, the lift doors opened and the two walked in. As the doors closed, KromeKatt and Felina braced themselves for battle. ********** "Well this is new Dark Kat, you just settling for money instead over full control over Megakat City." "Now Callie, let's not talk like that in front of this good kat here." "No Mayor Manx, Ms. Briggs here deserves a full explanation." Dark Kat walked towards Callie Briggs. He stopped right in front of Callie. "You see Ms. Briggs, though total domination of Megakat City and eventually, the entire world, is my primary objective, I need this kind donation from your generous city to fund one of my little projects." "The Swat Kats will come and stop you Dark Kat." "Ah yes, the Swat Kats, it's strange that they haven't come to court their deaths like the foolhardy heroes they are. Perhaps those fools actually found out that they can't beat me." "They could beat you any day." "SILENCE!" Dark Kat was about to slap Callie Briggs when he noticed that the lift was being used. "What's this? The Swat Kats actually thought that I would not notice the lift being used? This will be the last mistake they ever make about me." Dark Kat lifted up a bazooka and pointed it at the lift. "Say goodbye to your precious Swat Kats Ms. Briggs." "NO!" As Dark Kat fired the missile towards the opening doors of the lift, it careened towards the occupants at a high speed, but before it could reach its destination, it was destroyed in mid-flight. The explosion of the missile threw back Dark Kat against the wall. "What...Who are you?" "I am KromeKatt." The smoke from the explosion cleared and Dark Kat could see the armored figure of KromeKatt walking out of the lift with his Plasma Cannon in his hand. Dark Kat picked himself up, and faced KromeKatt. "What is your business here?" "I want answers from you Dark Kat." "Then it is a pity that you will not get them. ATTACK!" As soon as Dark Kat shouted out his command, creeplings that had been lying in wait rushed out of their hiding places and attacked KromeKatt. There were at least twenty-five of the creatures swarming KromeKatt. Though his armor is incredibly strong, it was hard for him to maneuver under the creeplings' unceasing attack. He batted away the creeplings, but more came up to block his view. As Dark Kat gloated at KromeKatt's difficulty, he did not notice Felina sneaking out of the lift and around the room. Eventually, she reached the bound Callie Briggs. "Shhh. I'm here to help." "Is he a Swat Kat?" "I don't think so. Are you all right?" "I am, but I don't think Mayor Manx is very happy." She gestured at Mayor Manx who was flinching every time damage was caused during the battle between KromeKatt and the creeplings. And a lot of damage was caused. He gasped when a creepling dodged one of KromeKatt's punches and instead his fist went through an expensive painting. "At least insurance will cover most of the damages. Come on." Felina led Callie Briggs and Mayor Manx to a corner of the room where they will be out of the line of fire. The Mayor gasped once more when KromeKatt threw a creepling across the room and smashed a priceless vase. "Time to kick some tail." Felina took aim with her blaster and fired. She fired five consecutive shots, hitting a creepling each time. Dark Kat turned to see the new assailant. At the same time, KromeKatt swung his hands together, catching at least eight creeplings in his hands, and threw them at another group of creeplings. As the two groups collided, KromeKatt raised his right hand and fired a net from a small compartment. And now, there were only two creeplings that could still fight. But they still jumped at KromeKatt, ready to attack him. He grabbed the two in mid-flight, and smashed them together. He let the two unconscious creeplings fall from his hands and faced Dark Kat. "Your creeplings can't fight any more Dark Kat, now will you answer me?" Dark Kat looked around. All his creeplings were either trapped in a net or were lying unconscious. KromeKatt was too strong for him to take on by himself. Felina had her blaster aimed at him and there was no way she could miss. "I see no other choice. But wouldn't the Enforcer want to place me under arrest?" "I can wait, answer him." "Very well, what is your question?" "At least a year ago, there was an explosion at a science institution which killed several people. The explosion was caused by one of the explosives only you use. Was it you that caused the explosion? And WHY?" "Oh that. It wasn't really my idea, I needed more money for one of my projects, and there was a party who was very willing to provide me with the necessary funding, provided that I cause that unfortunate 'mishap'." "WHO WAS IT?" Too late did KromeKatt notice the villain's hand reaching for something in his robes. Dark Kat pulled out a switch and pressed the button. At the click of the button, a giant robot crashed through the floor. "I had been planning this fate for the Swat Kats, but you can have the privilege of having it instead." Dark Kat then turned and ran. KromeKatt started to go after him, but then he saw Felina firing her blaster at the robotic killer to no avail. Its armor was too strong. She couldn't deal with this mechanical monster, and if he went after Dark Kat, it would destroy them. He stood there for a second in indecision, and made his move. He thrust out his fist and punched the robot across the face. As it turned to attack its new target, he prepared himself for the attack. <> <> The robot raised fired a laser from its eyes at KromeKatt. It hit him in the chest, stunning him. It immediately followed with a punch, knocking KromeKatt onto the floor. As it slowly walked towards KromeKatt to finish him off, KromeKatt sat up and fired his Plasma Cannon. He shot off the left arm of the robot and its right leg. Unable to support itself, it fell over on its face. <> <> He slowly aimed his cannon at the robot's chest. <> <> <<10.0 seconds>> <> <> Two green lines appeared on the screen inside his helmet, one horizontal and one vertical, crossing each other and started moving around the screen. It stopped, with the place where the two lines meet at the head of the robot. <> Suddenly, KromeKatt heard the sound of glass breaking. He turned around and saw the Swat Kats jumping through the window. They immediately aimed their glove-a-trix at KromeKatt. "Wait!" The bigger one turned to look at who just shouted. Felina walked over to them and explained what happened. "It's okay he's on our side. Say... what took you so long?" "There was a robbery at the other side of town. We couldn't get here quickly enough, but it looks like this guy took care of the problem." "Not yet I haven't." He jumped up through the roof and looked into the sky. He looked up into the sky, and saw that the sky was clear, there was nothing that could be hurt in the air. He jumped back down into the room below him. "Hey what's going on?" Without answering, KromeKatt ripped off the head of the robot and jumped through the roof. When his feet touched the top of the building, he immediately hurled the head into the sky. Only three seconds had passed when the head left his fingers and it was already 50 miles into the sky. The explosion was huge. As KromeKatt stood there, he watched the remnants of what he threw into the sky. <> "Thanks pal." KromeKatt turned. He saw the Swat Kats standing there on the roof with him. "For what? I let Dark Kat get away." "Forget about it. The same thing happened to us, but the important thing was that you saved Megakat City. That explosion could have killed a lot of innocent people." "...I did, didn't I." "Sure you did. Nothing left for us to do here, may as well head back." "Yeah. Do you think Ferral's going to pin the blame on us again?" "He'll probably will. And hey, what's your name?" "KromeKatt." "Yeah. See you later KromeKatt. You saved a lot of people today." The Swat Kats jumped into their jet and took off. As the jet flew off, KromeKatt stood there, thinking. <<...Saved a lot of people...>> ********** "...And the day was saved with Megakat City's newest hero, KromeKatt. This is Ann Gora signing off." Arthur switched off the television and opened the doors to the van. <> Arthur looked at the figure emerging from the shadows. As he walked towards the van, Arthur could see that it was Lars in his armor. He quickly got into the van and closed the doors. Arthur drove back to their lab while Lars got out of his armor. "Did you find out why Dark Kat blew up the old building?" "Yeah. He was paid to." "Someone paid DARK KAT? That must be one rich guy. Do you know who it is?" "No." "Oh. Well, what are we going to do?" "Arthur, are you free tomorrow? I'd like you to help me put in some more equipment into the van." "We're going after the guy? Lars we have no way of knowing who he or she is, how are we..." "We're not going to look for this person." "We're not?" "No. Back there on the building, when the Swat Kats came up to me and..." "You met the SWAT KATS? WOW! Did you get their autographs?" "No, now let me finish. They came up to me and thanked me for helping them..." "You helped the Swat Kats and they THANKED YOU?" "Shut up and listen. They thanked me and told me that I saved a lot of lives. I realized there and then that I did. No one has to die or suffer like me, ever. Though the Swat Kats are the protectors of Megakat City, they can't be there all the time. And I want to help, to make sure that no more innocent people are hurt. Will you help me Arthur?" Arthur sat there silently for a while, driving along the street. He stopped at a red light and turned around to face Lars. "Are you kidding? It's been my childhood dream to be a sidekick to a hero. Of course I'll help." "Thanks Arthur, but you won't be helping me in my fights." "What? But why?" "I hate putting anyone's life at stake, especially yours." "Darn. You mean I don't get to wear fancy armor?" "No. I just need you to stay in the van and give me any advice that I might need. Will you still help me?" "...Sure pal, of course I will." Arthur grinned, and Lars grinned back. The red light turned green and Arthur drove the van back to the lab. A new hero has been created and he will protect Megakat City, no matter what the costs, and the name of this hero is KromeKatt. END