The next attack was at the waste management plant where water and garbage was recycled. Another totally out of character hit by an omega. The ninja's set charges on several treatment tanks but the SWAT Kats managed to stop them before they could blow more than the one they already had. The enforcers removed the explosives from the other tanks.
Despite that, the one tank blown had caused a great deal of damage and forced the city to go on temporary water restriction measures. No one was happy about that least of all the Mayor since he was hit with a ton of irate and frightened calls.
This was the pattern Dark Kat and Viper set for the next several weeks.
They would strike totally unlikely targets but ones that could cause the most havoc in the city. A transformer handling a large section of the city was taken out. A swamp was made out of a huge family water park, shutting it down for days and injuring many Kats. Creeplings startled and hurt many Kats in Megakat Park. Megakat Biochemical Labs was over run with crawling insects of all types. An oil slick appeared on Megakat State Beach polluting a long stretch of it.
The attacks were wearing down the enforcers, environmental resources, and the treasury of Megakat City. Mayor Manx had held an emergency meeting that wasn't able to come up with any plan beyond finding and stopping the pair of omegas making the city a war zone.
The SWAT Kats were helpless because every time they came to a scene, the culprits were long gone. They were only marginally helpful in some situations and in others they could only leave it to the experts.
Feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and anger created a stew of sharp tempers that fed on each other among the defenders of the city.
Jake had retreated within himself, rarely speaking to his friend. He drove himself to exhaustion trying to locate the pair of omegas and he would work for hours in his workshop, rarely coming up to the garage. Chance was left trying to keep up their workload.
He'd given up trying to get his partner to listen. He was tired and short tempered but also concerned that their partnership was on rocky ground. He sensed Jake had a hidden agenda one that didn't include him. Chance just knew they would be heading for serious trouble when the next call came in.
It was worse than he could have imagined.
Within the enforcers, tension was high. Their Commander was constantly tight-jawed and evil tempered. Everyone made an effort to stay out of his way so as not to become the focus of his next outburst. He'd always been quick to anger but this new cold fury that seemed to drive him had his troops leery and concerned.
Felina could no longer temper her uncle's outbursts as she'd been able to in the past. The troops saw this as a further sign of Feral's decline. His officers were seriously talking about complaining to the upper echelon of command to get someone to make Feral cool off but they were still reluctant to do so. He was an excellent tactical leader just not a temperate one at the moment.
The emotional storm both Chance and Felina feared finally broke some two weeks later. The fallout would affect everyone around Feral and Jake.
Feral was on a single-minded mission and nothing and no one was going to get in his way. He had managed to successfully bury his anguish or so he thought. If he'd bothered asking Felina, she would have told him his secret pain was out on display in the form of his changed behavior. His dreams at night also made sure he couldn't forget that terrible night.
And one day, sometime later, something else insured he really couldn't bury it at all. He'd been feeling tired too much lately and his breasts were sensitive. A few mornings, he'd felt nauseated but simply solved the problem by not eating in the mornings. But other signs began to emerge and with trepidation he discreetly bought a kit. The next morning he complied with the instructions.
Ever since that night, he had fiercely denied and at other times prayed hard that he hadn't conceived. But it was in vain as he stared at the evidence in his paws that he was indeed going to have Razor's kit. For long minutes, he stared at the stick, his mind in turmoil and unable to decide if it wanted to scream in fury or sob in tears.
He did neither. Tossing the stick, he took a shower then dressed for work. He hid his horror and shame behind a cold exterior and went to work even more determined to get Dark Kat and Viper.
But hiding such an intense emotional pain takes a toll of its own. Dark Kat was the next one to set off another destructive distraction. Using Hard Drive, Dark Kat had the techno thief use his electrical skills to short out an entire wing of Megakat Maximum Security Prison, releasing at least a hundred prisoners. Fortunately, that wing housed the low level criminals.
The alarm phone went off. Chance tossed his tool down on the bench and quickly answered it.
"Yes, Ms. Briggs"
"T-Bone, there's been a major breakout of prisoners at the Megakat Maximum Security Prison, low-level threat wing. It's already been determined that Hard Drive was the one to short out the prison power for that area. The enforcers have their paws full trying to round them up. Can you give them a hand, please?" She asked.
"Uh...you know Feral has been behaving more coldly toward us and its making everyone including his enforcers nervous and more prone to shoot first, ask questions later." Chance reminded her, unhappily.
"Yes, I know. I've been seeing that too but the enforcers are really stretched. All these attacks that damn pair is causing have exhausted them and tempers are flaring. I know that's what they were after when they started this. Please, you guys have to work together or Dark Kat and Viper will win." She pleaded.
Chance sighed. She was right of course, things were getting really bad. "Alright, Ms. Briggs. We'll see if we can help end the situation more quickly." He said reluctantly.
"Thanks and try not to provoke Feral if you can help it." She added worriedly.
"Trust me, the way he's been behaving, I steer a wide path away from him. Don't worry!" Chance said, reassuring her then hanging up.
He closed the garage and put up the sign that told customers they were out on a tow then he climbed down the ladder to the hangar. Even though the alarm sounded down here, he was more than a little upset and worried when his partner was no where in sight.
He went to the work shop and wasn't surprised to see Jake huddled over a piece of tech, soldering something. He had to wait until Jake turned it off before getting his attention.
"Jake, didn't you hear the alarm?" He demanded.
"Yeah, but I needed to get this done. It's going to come in handy when we find those two creeps." Jake growled.
"Fine, but Callie just called us to say there was a break out at the Megakat Prison. She wants us to help the enforcers round up the low-level crooks that have made a run for it." Chance explained as he and Jake made for their lockers to change.
Jake grimaced, "Great, exactly what kind of help can we be?"
"Come on buddy, we're just going to help scoop up the crooks faster so that the enforcers can get back to headquarters faster. As Callie said, they are stretched very thin and are exhausted. This just makes Feral even more of a prick. Wish I knew why he was being so cold lately?" He said as he put on his helmet and headed for the jet.
Razor didn't respond to that as he jumped into his seat and strapped in for takeoff.
As T-Bone piloted the Turbokat toward the prison, he mourned the rapport he and Razor used to have until this incident happened. Now he couldn't get any feedback from the remote figure that had once been his warm and open partner. Razor would have had some idea what was going on but he wasn't sharing that info with his friend anymore.
'Gods, I just wish I knew what had happened to him and Feral. It's driving me buggy!' T-Bone thought in frustration.
As they arrived at the prison, nothing could be seen outside it. So they landed near the wing that had been affected. It seemed the power was still out and enforcers were in gun fights with some of the prisoners who had managed to get weapons from guards they had overpowered. It was a nasty situation.
They figured the best way to help was to use their unique missiles from their glovatrix to end the warfare quicker. A prison doesn't allow a lot of wiggle room so they were forced to come up behind the enforcers and security guards. This wasn't the best place to be with the enforcers being more than usually hostile toward them.
Razor took out a small group of crooks trapped in a kitchen area with a brace of tarpedoes while T-Bone went for another group pinning down the good guys in a common room. The enforcers weren't happy to see them but for once didn't try to stop them. The pair quickly moved through different areas of the prison wing and very soon the shooting was over.
They thought it best to get the heck out before Feral could catch them lurking about. They had managed to just get to the door they had entered from the maintenance section, just outside the prison block, when the Commander appeared suddenly from behind the transformer the prisons electrical team was repairing.
Felina and Feral's Sergeant came racing up behind the SWAT Kats, effectively trapping them between. Felina went tense with trepidation. She didn't know what her uncle would do. She tried to think of a way to help the pair slip away.
T-Bone's fists clenched. This was exactly what he'd promised Callie he would try to prevent. He tried to think of a way to get by the Commander without them getting killed or captured.
When Feral saw Razor, the memory of that night and the consequences he just learned of shattered his control. His golden eyes held a wild light, his body was taut with fury when he leaned close to Razor and hissed, "I'm pregnant!"
Razor, who had stiffened at the sight of Feral, went still and his face reflected his anguish and sorrow at that fierce admission.
He could barely breathe when he moaned out softly, "Gods, Feral I'm soo sorry!"
Feral stood trembling, his expression had gone unreadable. Razor's obvious anguish and mutual pain drained the anger from the huge tom Kat. A look of resignation and equal sorrow filled his eyes.
"I know! But that doesn't help me now, does it?" He said his voice thick with pain.
Razor's voice was small and soft when he answered. "No...is there anything..." He started to ask pleadingly.
"No!" Feral snapped and turned away. He walked back to the rear of the transformer and disappeared.
Razor stood a moment longer swallowing hard against the pain of that stark refusal then rushed for the door and out.
T-Bone, Felina and the Sergeant stood as if rooted to the floor. Horror, shock and dismay were reflected on their stunned faces.
'Oh God! What was going on? How could Feral be pregnant and why did Razor look so guilty and upset?' T-Bone thought in total confusion. He turned to look at Felina. Her face was as shocked as his but there was intense sorrow as well.
"Lt. Feral, do you know what's going on?" He pleaded.
"I...I can only guess T-Bone. My uncle is a hermaphrodite. He must have been in heat when he was captured. Still that doesn't make sense that he could have gotten pregnant. His cycles are light and unnoticeable...unless..." She paused thoughtfully. She frowned then a look of horror crossed her face.
"Oh God! He must have entered his intense cycle. He has one once a year and he usually takes off and stays home when it happens. I just realized he hadn't had one this year. Ohhh...if that had happened while he was imprisoned and Dark Kat learned of it..." She let the sentence hang as she stared at T-Bone with growing awareness of what might have happened.
T-Bone had been staring at her, his eyes widening when he realized where she was going with that suspicion.
"Fuck! If Dark Kat learned Feral was in heat and he had Razor locked up with him then he could have given Razor an aphrodisiac to ensure a mating occurred. No way they could resist it." T-Bone said in angry sorrow.
"No and an intense heat cycle is the only time a male herm can get pregnant. I'm afraid we may be right and that explains my uncle's bitterness and anger. It's obvious he doesn't hold Razor to blame though." Felina said unhappily.
"Yeah, but that's the only good news. It also explains why my partner has been so closed up lately too. This is just going to make things worse. We've just got to get those two cruds! They are the cause of this nightmare and I know something big is going to come down soon." He said grimly.
"Yes, I agree! I already guessed that all these attacks are just distractions. What they did to my uncle and Razor was for the same reason. That's why they were released seemingly unharmed when in reality, Dark Kat had messed with their emotions. They are so in knots over this, they are their own worst enemy." Felina said, troubled.
"Damn! You're right about that and I don't know how help Razor get over this. I've never seen him this driven before and it scares me." T-Bone said. Suddenly a really bad thought occurred to him. "He could be seeking revenge!" He growled worriedly.
Felina's eyes widened as well. "I dismissed that thought about my uncle, it just isn't something he would normally ever think to do...but..."
"Yeah, but they've been pushed too far and it looks like they both may be planning something permanent for Dark Kat and Viper. They may not be working together but they are obviously going in the same direction." T-Bone said grimly, finishing her thought.
"I don't know what we can do to stop them! My uncle didn't make Commander by having it handed to him. He was a canny detective when he was younger and he did a stint in special ops as well. There's no telling what he might do." She said tightly.
"And Razor is a genius and there's a hard core to him that he hides but I've seen it on occasion when things got really bad. I'm seeing that side of him now. I hate to say it but they could actually pull this off." T-Bone said heavily.
"If he's caught, it could mean his career!" She said in concern.
"Razor may not be any good emotionally afterwards either, if he succeeds in his goal. It seems we both may be screwed if we don't find a way to stop them." He said flatly.
"I don't know how to help you, SWAT Kat but I can keep an eye on the Commander." The Sergeant, who had been silent all this time, startled them by speaking up. "He's used to you looking out for him, Lieutenant, so he would hide it from you. I'm not certain he even noticed I was here, so it seems to me, I would make a better candidate to monitor him."
"I think you may have something there, Sergeant. We have to be discreet. We are the only ones that know anything about what was said here. Let's keep it that way." Felina told them solemnly.
"I agree. No word of this gets out." T-Bone said firmly.
They all nodded and parted ways. T-Bone hurried out to the Turbokat and climbed in. Soon they were heading home.