Chapter 9: Meltdown
"Calling M.T.C this is the SWAT Kats with an emergency," Razor radioed the Trauma Center.
"Roger SWAT Kats! What is the nature of your emergency, over?" Came the efficient voice of the on duty medic.
"We have a Sabren in severe emotional distress. His mate is with him. Patient is Commander Feral, over!" Razor responded.
"Roger, Trauma 1 acknowledges! What's your ETA, over?" The medic said briskly.
"Two minutes, clear," Razor said as he landed the Turbokat onto the hospital chopper pad.
As soon as he shut engines, a medical team with a gurney rushed to the rear of the jet and waited as Razor lowered the ramp. T-Bone nodded at the team as they rolled the gurney up the ramp and moved to his side.
"I'm his mate. He's been suffering lack of control over his emotions and has had two major break downs. One last night and just fifteen minutes ago," he said tightly, his face showing how much pain he was enduring from his mate's mental condition. "He's not communicating at all."
"Right! We'll look him over inside and you as well. Fortunately, we have a Sabren physician on duty right now and he's been called." The trauma doctor said calmly.
He quietly directed his team to lift Feral to the gurney then led the way through the ER doors with T-Bone walking close beside the gurney and Razor following from the rear. As they entered the trauma bay, they were met by a powerful looking tabby Sabren.
"I'm Dr. Kenton, the Sabren physician on call. We need to take Commander Feral to the secure room where we treat Sabrens. Please follow me." He said as he led the way down a corridor to a pair of heavily reinforced doors. When the SWAT Kats went into the room, they saw it was fully equipped and much the same as an ordinary trauma bay except for having reinforced walls of some kind of absorbent material similar to what was used at power plants and rubberized flooring.
Razor stayed near the door and out of the way as Dr. Kenton began his examination of Feral and insisted T-Bone sit on a second gurney nearby. Other medical personnel gently stripped the Commander of his clothes and put on hospital p.j.s. While he checked Feral over, the doctor quietly asked T-Bone many questions concerning their mating and the incidents of loss of control.
"It wasn't a mutual decision to mate but a forced one due to his harboring a dangerous level of energy. In the chamber he went to pieces and wanted to die rather than mate. Apparently, from what I was able to get him to tell me, he thought mating would make him a slave. I did what I could for him to make the mating as easy as possible. However, not too soon after, when we went to his home, he began to have control issues. I don't really understand why. Not really being familiar with Sabrens, I did my best to try and soothe him by sending good feelings over our bond. It seemed to help somewhat but by the next evening he was crashing.
We had a horrible session of pain, grief, and anger that nearly ripped us both apart. He wasn't looking to great by morning despite sleeping through the night. Unfortunately, the press conference broke through his hard won control and sent him off the deep end again only this time he didn't come back all the way and all I could get from him before he completely shut down was he wanted to die," T-Bone briefed him. "Doc, I've gotta say I'm scared and hurting! I don't know enough to help him and I hate it!"
"What are you feeling from him right this minute, T-Bone?" Dr. Kenton asked gently.
T-Bone rolled his shoulders uncomfortably and winced as a sharp pain stabbed through his brain. "Uh, pain, emptiness, and despair!"
Kenton nodded gravely. "You are right to be concerned. His feelings of being trapped and thinking he is a slave, is, unfortunately, something I've heard before from maladjusted Sabrens whose mother's were also unhappy and uneducated on their biology. We'll deal with that issue later. For now, it appears Commander Feral is suffering a psychotic break with reality. We have to shock him back to reality and it won't be kind. Anti-psychotic drugs are not well accepted by Sabren biology but we've not been able to find a more suitable substitute. So this is not going to be pleasant for either of you," he told T-Bone then went to one of the nurses standing by and ordered a couple of medications.
"I understand, doc. Just do what you have to," T-Bone muttered as he huddled miserably on the gurney and stared at his mate's face. It was disturbing to see those eyes staring at the ceiling blankly.
The nurse returned and handed the doctor a pair of hypos. The first one he turned and gestured to T-Bone.
"This will ease the pain you're having and allow you to be able to continue helping your mate," he said. T-Bone blinked at him a moment, his brain in so much pain it was getting harder for him to understand what was being said. Razor came over and gently rolled his partner's sleeve up allowing Kenton to give the injection. It worked quickly and T-Bone sighed in relief, his headache easing significantly. Also relieved, Razor moved back to the door to stay out of the way.
"Good! I'm glad you feel better, now come stand by your mate before I inject him," Kenton said.
T-Bone slid off the bed and moved to his mate's side. A pair of nurses help lift Feral to a seated position. When everyone was ready, Kenton injected Feral in his right arm. Another nurse brought over a basin and gave it to T-Bone. "Here, you might want to hold this...the drug works very quickly," she warned.
T-Bone moved the basin in front of Ulysses' face and watched as his mate's eyes widened abruptly then the big tom lurched forward and began heaving. T-Bone held the basin firmly and waited grimly while his mate heaved his guts up. It seemed to go on a long time but finally it eased off. A nurse brought a cup of water and took the basin from T-Bone.
"Here Uly, rinse out your mouth then drink," T-Bone instructed, using another basin he was handed. Feral blinked sweat from his eyes and shakily took the cup, took a mouthful and spit it out then drank the rest. The nurse took the cup and basin while T-Bone hugged his mate.
Feral was panting and looked miserable but alert and aware once more. "Kat's Alive! Just shoot me why don't you!" He moaned hoarsely, hanging his head in misery.
"I'm sorry Uly but it was the only way to snap you out of that deep funk you'd fallen into," T-Bone commiserated with his sick mate.
Feral leaned his head into T-Bone's shoulder and muttered, "I'm sorry to have been so much trouble for you."
"It's not your fault."
They were silent for a moment while Feral tried to recover.
"Seems weird!" He muttered finally.
"What does?"
"I've never apologized to you for anything over the years and now I've said I'm sorry several times over the last forty-eight hours," he sighed, pensively.
"So you have, but this is for an entirely different reason and I'm your mate so think nothing of it," T-Bone assured him, soothingly as he caressed the tom's back.
Dr. Kenton watched and listened to the interplay between the pair and was pleased to see that the two's bonding hadn't been damaged by what they'd endured. It would make treating the Commander that much easier.
"Hello, Commander. I'm Dr. Kenton. Glad to see you are with us again. I want to admit you to our psych ward for little while and have a Sabren therapist have a chat with you. I understand you've succeeded in keeping your freedom a very long time so mating now had to be very difficult for you. It's really not that bad being bonded and you have been very fortunate to have an extremely caring mate even though you were antagonists before that happened. Let's see if we can help you adjust to your new status and ease your grief a bit. Will that be okay with you?" He asked warmly.
Feral eyed the doctor warily but nodded slowly in agreement. T-Bone hugged his mate tighter in relief. This was what he'd wanted for Ulysses and now he was going to get it. He just wished it could have been more voluntary.
"Doctor, I don't think my difficulties with being mated is why I'm having problems with controlling my emotions. I can feel something is wrong but I can't tell what it is," Feral said slowly.
Dr. Kenton frowned and rubbed his chin. "Hmm, might be a metabolic problem. I'll order some tests run to see what's going on. You may be right and this is not a psychological problem but a physical one. Though, you are in need of counseling, there's no question of that but if you're having additional problems with your biology then we need to fix it quickly," he said thoughtfully.
Feral nodded in relief. He hated counseling but he had promised but this other problem had him scared and he wanted an answer to it quickly.
"T-Bone, I'm sorry but you need to remain here as the Commander is going to need you during this initial round of diagnostic tests and he'll begin to receive some counseling as well. He's not safe alone without you since he will become upset during the therapy sessions. I know this will be inconvenient for you and I sincerely hope your services for the city won't be needed during this time," Kenton said, understanding the position this put the SWAT Kat in.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a problem but Razor will do the best he can and, yeah, I hope the omegas stay quiet for a little while too, with both of us gone," T-Bone said, understanding the need but feeling guilty nonetheless as he gave his partner a look of apology.
"Don't worry about it, T-Bone. I'll hold down the fort till you get back. You just focus on your mate. I'll leave now. Anything you want me to bring you two?" Razor asked as he reassured his partner.
"No not right now, Razor, thanks. I'll contact you if I do," T-Bone said gratefully, bidding his partner goodbye.
Razor slipped out and the doctor gave orders for Feral's transfer to the psych ward. T-Bone stepped out of the way as they prepared his mate for the move. He took a moment to call Ms. Briggs to bring her up to date then followed the gurney on it's journey upstairs.
Twenty-four hours later, after all the tests then his first therapy session, Feral went into melt down again. T-Bone was beginning to think he was never going to rid himself of the constant headaches caused by his mate's grief and pain. But what was more frightening were the increasingly downward spiral of emotional breakdowns that left Ulysses losing ground with reality more and more.
After another twelve hours, Ulysses was no longer communicating with anyone, not even his mate which caused T-Bone agony of mind and spirit. Dr. Kenton brought him the news that Feral was suffering some kind of energy reversal. Meaning his power was eating him alive and they didn't know how to stop it.
While the doctors scrambled to find a cure for Feral's condition, T-Bone was left exhausted from trying to deal with his nearly psychotic mate. Uly had to be kept doped up to keep him calm. Only T-Bone's presence helped Uly cling to what little sanity he still had left. It meant the tabby couldn't leave his mate's side and it was beginning to wear on him.
So he didn't need what happened next. Dr. Viper apparently was looking for an experimental drug being used in a test program by the Psychiatric Department of the hospital for helping schizophrenics. He wanted the formula for plans of his own.
To that end, he had his mutations cause a riot among the unstable patients in the psych wing, sending patients and medical staff running everywhere in terror. Under cover of the chaos, Viper slipped in.
T-Bone had heard the screams outside the secured room Feral was being kept in and went out to investigate. He was immediately set upon by two of Viper's horrors. He fought hard but was eventually thrown against a wall, knocking him unconscious.
Despite his condition and being doped to the gills, Feral sensed his mate's fear then the sudden blankness through their bond. Terror ripped through him! He tore free of the restraints that tied him to his bed, stumbled to his feet then charged his room door, tearing it off its hinges. Nearly falling out into the corridor he paused a moment to stare blearily at the bedlam going on around him.
Seconds later, he spotted his unconscious mate slumped against the far wall. Roaring in anguished fury he raised his fists into the air and began to draw energy as he ran to his mate's side.
Viper made the mistake of coming out of a far room at that very moment attracting the attention of the crazed Sabren. Giving a roar of fury and beginning a charge down the hallway, Feral bore down on the mutant. Shocked at the sight of a glowing Commander, Viper sent a cadre of his plant creatures to either kill or at least stop the insane Sabren from catching him while he made his escape.
However, his creatures were no match for an out of control Sabren as Feral gathered energy and incinerated the plant things with little effort. After clearing a path, Feral was totally focused on one thing...getting Viper as he barreled down the hall.
Having seen the mad look in Feral's eyes and watching his creatures get barbequed, Viper made the smart move and ran. Unfortunately for him, he chose a dead end hallway to run down. With no where to go he desperately tried to make himself a smaller target when the Sabren came charging toward him.
Back down the corridor they'd left, T-Bone was groggily regaining consciousness. He sat up and rubbed his aching head which was also ringing from an overload of emotions from his mate. He quickly looked toward Feral's room and saw the door blown out. He heard a shriek down the corridor and staggered to his feet to run in that direction.
When he arrived, he found his mate firing energy bursts at Viper who was barely able to duck the blasts as he ran from side to side where he was trapped in a dead end corridor. As much as he hated that lizard, T-Bone couldn't let Uly just kill him. He raced up to his mate and wrapped himself around him.
Feral snarled and started to turn his attention to this new attacker but a quick sniff and some part of his mind still recognized his mate. The anger and fury blew out of him like a candle much to T-Bone's startled surprise. What shocked him more was Feral was acting like a kitten as the big tom turned in the tabby's arms and buried his head in his shoulder, beginning to whimper, his need and desire to be comforted obvious.
Confused, T-Bone could only pat and rub the big body pressed against him, speaking soothing words while he did so, "it's alright love...I'm okay...take it easy now." He kept his eye on the still huddled Viper who watched them curiously. The mutant made no move to try and get past the pair. He'd already figured out what Feral was and knew better than to try and slip by the powerful Sabren.
"Don't like it here! Take home?" Feral suddenly pleaded in a childlike voice.
Horrified, T-Bone stared at his mate's head in shock. Feral looked up at him, eyes filled with tears. What the hell was going on? What was happening to Uly's mind?
"Oh God! Uly please come back to me. I can't bear this anymore." T-Bone cried in anguish, shock being replaced with grief at the possible loss of his mate's mind.
Viper spoke up cautiously. "I would venture to guesssss, SSSWAT Kat, that your SSSabren mate'ss power has turned on him warping hissss mind."
T-Bone jerked his attention to Viper in shock. "How do you know that? The doctors have only just realized that could be his problem," he demanded, suspiciously.
"I can guesssss and I have sssseen sssomthing like it before," Viper assured him. "I might be able to help him."
"Why would you want to do that? You obviously want something for yourself," T-Bone snarled, furious but not able to stop the hope flaring through him. But to allow a known criminal to help find a cure was very disturbing.
"Of coursse I want ssssomething. My freedom, naturally. I help the pitiful doctorsss heal Feral and you let me go," Viper said coldly.
"How can I trust you not to kill my mate?" T-Bone growled, hating himself for bargaining with this piece of crud.
"You can't! But asss I ssssee it, you have no choice. Either you let me help or your mate continuesss to deteriorate into mindlesssnesss and will have to be desstroyed due to hisss inability to control hisss energy any longer," Viper said callously, it mattered little to him if Feral died or not, all he wanted was his freedom.
"You vicious..." the tabby began to snarl but cut himself off. He really didn't have a choice. Though crazy, there was no doubt Viper was a genius. If anyone could find a cure it would be him and if Uly continued to deteriorate at this rate, he would be mindless before another day went by. Cursing violently he snapped, "fine, you have a deal. Just wait there while I call for help. Uly may be out of it but he's still fast."
"I'm not sssstupid, SSSWAT Kat. Jusst never knew the fool enforcer was a SSSabren." Viper snorted, relaxing against the wall, the picture of innocense.
Scowling, T-Bone tapped his helmet and called Razor. His partner responded quickly and after a brief conversation said he would be there right away. While he waited, the hospital staff had regained control and peace reigned once more on the floor. Dr. Kenton strode down the corridor toward them. He eyed Viper warily as he came abreast of the couple still blocking the hall.
"How is he, T-Bone?" He asked as he examined Feral the best he could with the Sabren wrapped tightly around his mate.
"It's bad doc. Uly has somehow regressed to the mind of a kitten. Viper has corroborated what you were thinking, that Ulysses' energy has turned on him and says he thinks he can help cure him," he explained unhappily.
"Really...I'm sorry to say we are no closer to finding a cure though we haven't given up. Are you sure you're willing to trust him to find the cure?" Kenton asked, worriedly.
"No, I don't trust him but I suspect Uly hasn't got much time," T-Bone said reluctantly.
Dr. Kenton grimaced, "unfortunately, I'm afraid you are right. His mind is deteriorating faster than we predicted."
"Then we have no choice. For his freedom, Viper is willing to help you develop a cure."
Very unhappy, Dr. Kenton eyed Viper warily, a questioning look on his face.
"I've ssssseen sssomething sssimilar and have an idea how to cure it but I will need the use of the Bio Tech Labsss and Dr. Konway to come up with it," Viper answered his unspoken question.
Biting his lip in consternation, Kenton turned his attention back to T-Bone, "Fine, we need to do this quickly. How do you plan on keeping him a prisoner and getting to the labs?"
"I've called Razor. He's on the way. Viper will have to submit to being restrained and we will go to the labs in the Turbokat. Maybe you should contact Dr. Konway to forewarn him about this and what will be needed?" T-Bone suggested.
"I'll get right on it and Feral will have to be sedated for the flight. We can't have him panicking. I'll be right back when I've gathered what I need and called Dr. Konway," he said as he turned and quickly left back down the hall.