Feral winced as he went to the bathroom the next morning. 'Ohhh, that smarts...now I know why he stopped when he did and I was right to let him take me, what a thoughtful lover. Hmm, I think a bath with some epsom salts is in order...' he mused to himself as he turned on the taps to fill the tub.
While it was filling he went for the paper and to get some breakfast. Last night's adventure had played sweetly through his dreams and had made him actually come in both areas of his anatomy just before waking this morning. What a wake up call!
Elsewhere in the city, a certain tabby was finally dragging himself out of bed and making his way to the bathroom.
"Had a good night, I see," his friend of many years smirked at him as he passed his grumpy partner to go downstairs.
The tabby grunted a non verbal response, hating his friend's always disgustingly wide awake and cheerful demeanor at this early (to him) hour of the morning. Never a morning person, the shower managed to wake him up sufficiently to face the day with a better attitude.
Of course, this morning, he had some really pleasant memories of the night before to get his day started on the right foot. The amazing dark tom figured prominently in some of his best dreams last night.
It had been Jake who'd come across that ad about a great new place. Jake had a project he wanted to finish so told Chance to go on ahead and to let him know how it was. Admittedly curious, the tabby got on his cyclotron and went down to the warehouse district to check out the club called Hidden Faces.
After more than an hour, he had to admit, the place was fantastic. He'd already been with one of each sex before heading out to the dance floor again and searching for someone else. He had been surprised when this huge tom came on to him. He'd never regretted his decision to let that she-kat go and take the tom's invitation instead. And what a night it had been!
Still thinking about it, he showered and then got dressed, humming to himself the whole time. He trotted down the stairs and set about making his breakfast in good humor while his friend eyed him.
"A shower doesn't usually make you this chipper. What's up?" He asked, finishing his cereal.
The tabby threw a smirk over his shoulder for a second before turning back to making himself an egg and bacon sandwich. "Oh, I just had a fantastic night at that new club you told me about, is all."
"Really? So what happened and what's the place like?" Jake asked, curiously.
Chance carried his sandwich and glass of milk to the table and sat down. He took a healthy bite then a gulp of milk before answering his friend. He gave him a thumbnail description of the place and how much fun he'd had.
"Wow! Now I wish I'd gone. You say you actually found a male herm?" Chance just nodded as he continued to eat.
"Now that is rare. Lucky you! I think I'll go check it out as soon as I can."
"You should! It's a bit hard not to talk but after a while you find it's far more erotic to just touch to convey your intentions. I found there's fewer misunderstandings if you're very clear with your body language. You know I think that place could actually promote a better understanding between people and bring them closer together," Chance mused thoughtfully.
"You may be right! Eliminating speech does keep misunderstandings to a minimal since people always seemed to fail to convey what they mean in words, especially if their body language is saying something totally different. Sounds like a very smart bunch of people have used psychology to design their venue. Might be around a long time if it catches on."
"I'm sure it will and I'll be one of their regulars," the tabby smirked.
He kept his word, going at least once or even twice a week if he was able. Sometimes he went with Jake but most of the time he went alone. Over a couple of month's time, he managed to hook up with the dark tom at least five times. It just kept getting better each time. He was sad it wasn't more often. He wished he could ask why that was...but he was forced to settle for hoping the tom was there whenever he went.
The club was becoming a godsend when the omega's began to reappear after a long absence with a vengeance. The retreat to the club was beginning to provide solace for his soul besides his body as the omegas began to kill more innocents in more gruesome ways than before making the defenders more angry and heartsick.
Late in the day, Friday...a month later...
Feral bellowed through his radio to his troops as they used their tanks with nets strung between them to corral a truly weird bunch of creatures Viper had altered and released to rampage down the main thoroughfare of the city.
"Close that gap, there's a few attempting to escape that way," he thundered. He was in his chopper hovering dangerously close to the scene.
The creatures looked liked they were, once upon a time, cows but now they had super long pointed horns, long fangs and sharp talons on their hoofed feet. They apparently lacked any kind of intelligence and had been spooked sending them in a stampede where they presented a wall of deadly sharp points toward anyone unlucky enough to be in front of them.
Feral felt sick at the carnage. In the wake of the beasts charge, no less, than twenty or so victims lay in gory heaps. The attack had been sudden and without much warning so he'd been unable to issue a warning or evacuate the innocent before many were killed in this very gruesome way. It was a horrifying scene he'd arrived at with his enforcers as he saw some of the victim's bodies still impaled on some of those sharp horns as the animals rampaged down the street.
When he had these things corralled, he ordered them slaughtered swiftly. Aiming carefully, the tanks fired on the creatures. It was a bloody job but ended the threat in minutes. When silence finally fell, the street was filled with dead bodies and the air redolent with the scent of blood.
"Yuck!" T-Bone grimaced sourly at the messy sight.
"Well, at least Feral was finally able to take out those things, now if only we can just get a hold of the instigator!" Razor said tautly as he aimed his targeting scope at an object some fifty yards from where the Turbokat was holding position.
He fired a flurry of buzz saw missiles then followed up immediately with a net missile. The buzz saws cut to ribbons the odd and creepy flying thing Viper was riding as well as his vanguard that had kept them at bay that resembled wasps but with the ability to spit acid like his plantimals had done before.
Viper had made the mistake of thinking he'd driven off the Turbokat and was getting away with a special formula, when he'd sent an army of those wasp-like things after them but Razor hadn't been idle in inventing new weapons to deal with the changes the omegas were making to their arsenal.
His new weapon, a freeze ray, took out the attackers. Then the SWAT Kats did something sneaky themselves...instead of charging right back after Viper, Razor had T-Bone fly high above while they tracked the mutant's course below them, then dropped their altitude just enough to send a present and not be seen themselves. This element of surprise is why Viper was defeated before he even knew he was being attacked.
The net missile wrapped around Viper, thoroughly entangling him and made of Agracite laced fibers to prevent him from clawing his way out. What none of them had counted on, was one of the buzz saw missiles had missed a wasp. It was coming to the aid of its master when the unthinkable happened. Viper's wrapped form swung forward just as his insect reached him, the result was it skewering its master on the sharp proboscis it boasted, piercing his heart and killing him instantly.
Shocked, Razor was momentarily too stunned to do anything but stare at the dead omega hanging below their jet.
"Crud!" T-Bone gasped.
Shaking himself, Razor fired another buzz saw missile to kill the still living wasp that was desperately trying to extricate itself from the net and the body.
Unable to voice what they were thinking the pair headed for the enforcers. Feral had landed and was directing the cleanup, already knowing the SWAT Kats were after Viper and choosing not to waste katpower to do the same. He was tired of losing enforcers and equipment he couldn't afford to replace.
He looked up at the sound of the jet's arrival and gaped in shock as the dead body of Viper was lowered to his feet. The net released and dropped its load onto the tarmac. He looked back up and saw the Turbokat was going to make a landing in a cleared space a block away.
After studying the body a moment, he left it and strode over to meet them. They had landed with their usual smoothness when he reached the jet. The pair quickly jumped from the cockpit and joined him.
"What the hell happened?" He demanded, not blaming them since he had plainly seen the head of one of those wasp-things with its long beak sticking through Viper.
"It was the freakish thing!" T-Bone spoke first, shaking his head. "We'd bagged Viper and he was hanging below us when he and his insect collided. Honestly, we didn't know one of the things was still around when it happened. Like I said, freaky!"
"I'll say! Who would have guessed the fool would die at the paws of one of his own creatures," Feral agreed, shaking his own head in amazement.
"Poetic justice is all I can say," Razor muttered grimly.
"It is that. Alright, are all those things dead?" Feral asked briskly, getting back to business.
"Well, I think we'd better check but we do know most of them are," Razor assured him.
"Good! Then you go ahead and check and give me an all clear when you're done! My enforcers have their paws full at the moment," Feral said turning his head toward the mess behind him.
"Yeah, that is quite a nasty mess," T-Bone said in agreement then asked in a more subdued fashion, "I heard a lot of civilians were killed...?"
Feral grimaced unhappily. "Yes...looks like some twenty or so."
"Damn!"
"Yeah, I know. Seems the omegas have stepped up their level of death makers. I dread what Dark Kat might be planning," Feral muttered bleakly, actually sharing his fears with his antagonists.
T-Bone eyed Feral in surprise and concern. The big tom was deeply worried to have told them he was afraid.
"I'm very worried we may be in for a very bad time," Razor murmured agreement.
Feral studied the pair before him and noted they were just as grim as he. Suddenly, he didn't feel so all alone with his concerns. If these two cocky toms could feel worried then they had seen the seriousness of the situation as he had and that made him feel a little more confident in their being his back up. The thought alone made him shake his head mentally at his change in stance against these two but things were going south fast and he wasn't ashamed to say he was afraid for the city's survival.
"I noted you've developed some new weapons to deal with the increase in deadliness of our opponents..." he said in a questioning tone.
"I'm trying! But its becoming a nerve wracking thing to try and stay ahead," Razor admitted tightly.
"Its still better than what I'm able to do so don't feel badly. The Mayor just axed a new line of bazooka's and some new missiles that could have helped us," Feral growled, sourly.
"That idiot! Sorry Feral...someone should have ousted him a long time ago," T-Bone groused, finding himself in angry agreement and surprised they were having such a serious conversation without trading hateful words of anger instead. That actually didn't make him happy since it could only mean things were really bad and getting worse.
Feral shrugged in resignation. "I'm, unfortunately, used to it. I have to say, do what you can because whether I like it or not, we have to work together to keep this city safe. It's going to be a race now to see who is going to win!
"I'll do what I can to make sure it's us!" Razor said with firm conviction.
Feral gave a wane smile at that then nodded. "So do I. I'd better get back to work," he sighed, not looking forward to dealing with the relatives of the dead. He walked back to the gruesome scene.
"I don't envy him the aftermath of this," Razor muttered as he and T-Bone headed back to their jet.
"I find it weird we just had a decent conversation with him and I'm not ashamed to say, that scares me," T-Bone said grimly as he leaped back into the cockpit and started the jet.
"You and me both, buddy! Let's go do a canvas for bugs then get home," Razor told his friend.
"Roger!" T-Bone responded flying the jet in a grid search pattern.