Another morning, another visit to the porcelain god. This was just getting ridiculous. He felt like crap and was soo tired despite having rested from the time he'd got home till morning.
Forcing himself to dress and go to work took more effort than normal. His secretary eyed him in concern. He didn't make eye contact since he didn't want to be questioned about his undeniably pale countenance.
He actually cleared the important and immediate work from his desk and was leaving to go see Dr. Mewser when his sergeant flagged him down before he could step onto the elevator.
"Commander, there's been an alert at the Megakat Biochemical Labs." He said urgently.
Feral groaned, "Please tell me it isn't Viper again?"
"We don't know sir. Surprisingly there's been no report of any of his creepy plants around." The Sergeant said with a shrug.
"Fine, let's go!" Feral said flatly reaching for his coat and putting it on.
He and the Sergeant went down to the flight line. The Sergeant quickly pulled on a flight suit and hopped into the Commander's chopper. Ten minutes later, they were winging their way to the labs located at the center of the city.
The swaying ride aboard the chopper didn't help Feral's unhappy stomach none. It took all his will power not to heave and disgrace himself. They finally landed in the parking lot beside the building. Enforcers were already evacuating the place.
He grabbed an officer and got a more accurate picture of what was going on. To his surprise it was an unhappy worker that was causing all the trouble. He had barricaded himself in a lab containing a lot of volatile chemicals and was threatening to blow the place up.
Grumbling under his breath, Feral ordered a negotiator to be sent to the site. When the special negotiator arrived, he sent him up to talk to the distraught Kat. He prepared to wait to see what would happen next. Hopefully, the Kat wouldn't do anything stupid.
The negotiator spent over an hour and half with the culprit while Feral and his enforcers stood tensely around waiting. Suddenly one of his enforcers came running up to him.
"Sir, suspicious activity has been detected near the chemical storage tanks in the rear of the facility." He said hurriedly.
"Oh great...you, you, you and you come with me." He ordered as he moved quickly to the rear of the building. He pulled out his radio and called for chopper cover.
As they came around the corner to their destination, who would they find but Viper's creatures guarding a manhole cover that was now open.
"Oh fine! That's all we need!" He growled furious. His problems had now multiplied. He radioed for more reinforcements as he directed his men to fire on the plants but avoid the chemical tanks nearby.
Some miles away...
"Attention all chopper squadrons and ground force alpha...Viper's plants have been spotted at the scene where the suspect is holed up in a lab. Commander Feral has ordered quick response to his location at the rear of the Biochemical Labs." The enforcer dispatcher was announcing over an enforcer band radio.
"Sounds like we're needed buddy. Let's beat feet." Chance said tossing down his wrench, quickly wiping his paws and heading for the hidden ladder to their hangar.
Jake locked the door to the garage and put up a note they used when they were away then rushed to follow his partner.
Chance had already stripped and was almost completely dressed when Jake joined him and quickly changed his clothes too.
They were jumping into the cockpit of the Turbokat within minutes and were soon winging their way to the hot spot.
When they arrived, the enforcers were having to be extremely careful about firing around the storage tanks of chemicals. All they could do was attack any of Viper's creatures when they poked themselves out into view away from the tanks.
On the ground, Feral and his ground forces had gone around to the front of the building and were doing a systematic check of the place. They had to avoid the one where the negotiator was still trying to get the nutcase from the barricaded lab.
They hadn't spotted Viper yet or his plants. It was getting frustrating.
Into this mess, the SWAT Kats decided a more direct approach was needed. Leaving the Turbokat on another building's roof, they used their glovatrix winches to zip across from their landing spot to the roof of the labs.
Reaching the roof they entered by way of the ventilation shaft. It took a bit but soon they were hovering over the nutcase in the lab. They listened for a bit and watched the Kat.
The supposedly distraught tom was pacing back and forth but had nothing in his paws. The chemicals in the lab were located some distance from him. Outside, they could hear the enforcer negotiator trying to convince the Kat to let them in.
"Hmm, I wonder if this was planned by Viper? This guy isn't trying to cause an explosion. If he was he would have had it nearby." Razor murmured softly to his partner.
"I think you're right. While the enforcers are tied up here, Viper can slip in and get whatever he wants." T-Bone said grimly.
"Then let's give the enforcers a paw, shall we!" Razor said with a wicked smile as he carefully pointed his glovatrix to fire through the slit of the ventilation grille. The tarpedo he fired, flattened the tom to the floor ending the confrontation.
Since the enforcers beyond the door would be primed to charge through the door, T-Bone shouted to them while they stayed in the shaft.
"Hey, enforcers! Your guy is out of commission. Come in and take him!" He shouted loudly.
There was silence for a moment then enforcers forced the door and poured in. The prisoner squirmed helpless on the floor under his tarry trap. Smiling in satisfaction, the SWAT Kats continued on their way through the shaft.
On Razor's cold blood creature scanner, they picked up Viper's trace. It led them to the bowels of the building just below where the enforcers with Feral were at the moment. By the sound of Feral's shouts, the enforcers were heading down to the basement too.
Scurrying as fast as they could, the SWAT Kats pushed on through until they spilled out in the basement at last. Viper was just leaving with some of his plant guards down a drain in the floor.
Razor fired a cement round that sent the lizard kat off his feet. T-Bone took out the plant guards with a mini matchhead missile.
Viper was down but not out. He jumped to his feet and hissed in fury. He seemed to be searching the floor. T-Bone reached him just as he found what he was looking for...a flask with some purple fluid in it.
Grabbing the mutant kat by his waist he yanked him up off his feet while avoiding the whipping tail. Razor closed in and managed to fire a tarpedo into Viper's puss then snatched the flask out of his paw.
Feral and his enforcers charged into the room in time to see Razor holding the flask and T-Bone struggling with a tarry-faced Viper. Sighing in exhausted anger, Feral ordered his enforcers to take Viper into custody and to return the flask to one of the scientists above. As the basement cleared out and left only Feral and the SWAT Kats alone, the Commander growled angrily at them preparing to give them a lecture when the room decided to grow dim them go black on him.
T-Bone had been prepared to shove past the Commander, not in a mood to take one of his lectures, when Feral's eyes suddenly rolled up and he began to fall to the floor. Startled the tiger tom automatically reached out and caught the heavy kat before he hit the hard cement.
"What the heck?" He said in shock.
Razor knelt down and patted Feral's face gently.
"Crud! He fainted!" Razor said in amazement.
"What the heck could have caused that?" T-Bone asked in confusion.
"You got me, buddy but he looks really pale, don't you think?" Razor said looking closer at the Commander's face.
"Yeah, come to think of it he doesn't look really good. Wonder if he's coming down with the flu?" T-Bone speculated as he continued to hold the Commander's upper body in his arms.
The Commander groaned suddenly then tried to get to his feet before he was really conscious of what he was doing.
T-Bone helped him up but felt the big Kat begin to slid down again.
Feral felt sick to his stomach and everything was spinning. Moaning his legs slid out from under him again but T-Bone kept him from falling.
Lowering Feral back to the floor again, he was startled when the Commander began to heave. Supporting him, T-Bone grimaced but didn't let go. When Feral seemed to have stopped, Razor offered the Kat some water to rinse his mouth out.
Feral took a little and spit then drank a bit but the world still was spinning a bit. He moaned and tried to curl up hoping his head would stop spinning.
"Easy there, Commander. You're really rocky. We need to get you out of here and get you some help." T-Bone said in concern. He might not care for the arrogant Kat but he wouldn't leave him sick and helpless.
"Can't stand...too dizzy..." He panted thickly.
"Okay, we'll wait a bit and see if it eases," Razor said kneeling down again and watching the Commander closely.
"Don't understand why I've feel so bad...been nauseated for days...now this..." Feral said blearily.
"Sounds like the flu, Commander!" T-Bone said helpfully. He shifted his grip a bit, accidentally brushing past Feral breasts as he tried to put his arm under the big Kat without pressing too hard on his stomach.
Feral gasped in mild discomfort when T-Bone did that. His breasts had been too sensitive for a while too. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on letting his body rest, hoping when he opened his eyes again things would have calmed down.
"Don't worry Commander, you'll feel better in no time. You just need to rest. If you were a she-kat I would have said you were pregnant since those are the same symptoms a cousin of mine has been having." Razor said trying to lighten the mood while they waited.
Feral blinked in shock. "W-What did you say?"
"Huh? Oh, I said you'll feel better soon..." Razor started to say wondering why Feral was upset by what he'd said.
"No the other thing..." Feral gasped trying to sit up and moaning when he realized that wasn't a good idea yet.
"Oh, you mean about my pregnant cousin?" Razor asked confused.
"Oh God! I don't believe this!" Feral moaned. It just hit him. Sensitive breasts, nausea, fainting and, he just realized, no heat cycle. He'd missed it though sometimes he never noticed because it was so faint.
"What? What's wrong?" Razor asked, concerned by the Commander's odd behavior.
"Kat's Alive! I'm pregnant!" The dark tom hissed in shocked dismay.
"Huh! Uh, if you haven't looked in a mirror lately, Commander, you're male!" T-Bone said in sarcastic surprise.
"Not exactly!" Feral grunted still trying to absorb his predicament.
"Crud! You're a male hermaphrodite?" Razor blurted in shock.
Feral didn't answer but he didn't need to. T-Bone just gaped at his partner then back at Feral who was slowly sitting up and blinking slowly.
The room seemed to be holding still once more. He wanted out of this basement now. He moved to try and stand up but his legs were still shaky. Two paws quickly reached down to carefully heave him to his feet. He swayed dangerously. T-Bone quickly put a steadying arm around the rocky Kats waist.
"Easy there big guy. Guess you'll need a lift to the hospital. You need to be sure about your condition and you're much to weak to make it there by yourself. Come on, we'll help you" T-Bone said as he and Razor helped Feral out of the basement through a door that led to rear of the facility. There was no one around, for which Feral was grateful.
T-Bone moved Feral to a cement wall and made him sit. Razor stayed close while T-Bone went to get the Turbokat.
Very soon they had loaded the ill Kat aboard. Razor had placed a thick pad on the cargo floor and laid Feral down on it when the kat complained of being dizzy again. Razor stayed with him as T-Bone flew them to Megakat Trauma Center.
Having contacted them while in flight, the medical team was waiting for them when they landed. They rolled a gurney into the cargo hold and carefully lifted the Commander onto it.
As he was wheeled in T-Bone and Razor told the doctor what they witnessed and Feral's suspicions. The doctor blinked in surprise since male hermaphrodites got pregnant very rarely.
Once rolled into the room, Feral was quickly stripped. The SWAT Kats hung back against the wall. They wanted to know if Feral's suspicions were correct. If they were, it meant they would be keeping a closer eye on him from now on.
"I want a chem panel done and a pregnancy test!" The doctor ordered. He got a few confused looks but they did as asked quickly and efficiently.
"Alright Commander, I'm going to do a pelvic exam. Just relax." The doctor said as he drew the curtain and pulled out the stirrups on the table.
"Crud! I hate that exam!" Feral grumbled through the oxygen mask he was wearing.
"Yeah! I can imagine. Okay push yourself down here a little...that's it...a little more...okay... now put your feet in the stirrups, please." The doctor ordered.
The SWAT Kats decided to move a little further away. That kind of examination was embarrassing enough without them being that close to it and hearing it. The doctor was quick and soon was ordering Feral to move back up the table.
"You're pregnant alright. The labs will only confirm it for us. When do you think you might have conceived?" He asked as he wrote the information down on Feral's chart.
Feral gave a date. The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Positive about that, heh! Okay that would make you about three weeks along. A female wouldn't have had any real symptoms for another month but males are more sensitive. Also you have more risks. Right now I'm willing to bet your red blood cells have dropped alarmingly. The foetus is drawing on you strongly right now and unlike a female you don't make enough blood supplies to cover the demand at first. You are probably anemic." The doctor said gravely.
He was interrupted by a nurse bringing him the results of the tests.
"I was correct. Nurse bring some blood plasma and infuse at least one unit right now then we'll check him and see if he needs another." The doctor ordered then turned back to Feral and said, "I'm going to have to admit you for overnight observation. I want to make sure your anemia is taken care of and that you get some rest. I'll call a specialist in high risk pregnancies and make you an appointment. Right now just relax!" The doctor warned Feral then left the room while a nurse hung a bag of blood and inserted a needle into Feral's vein to begin the infusion.
Feral sighed in resignation. The SWAT Kats poked their heads around the curtain for a moment.
"Well, congratulations Commander. Do you have a mate?" T-Bone asked curiously.
"Yes." Feral said flatly.
"Okayyy! It's obvious you don't want to talk. We'll leave and let you rest. We'll be keeping an on eye on you though!" He said in parting then he and Razor disappeared before Feral could object.
'Swell! That's all I need is that pair dogging me.' He thought bitterly. Sighing he realized he needed to tell Tanlir. He didn't know how his mate would take the news then he remembered the competition Tanlir had mentioned. He groaned. 'Oh no! Now he's in direct line for the throne. How do I get myself into these things.' He thought in dismay.