SWAT KATS Take A Chance On Me: CH 17
Take A Chance On Me
Chapter 17: Silent Scream
Hard Drive lowered himself to the carpeted floor, slowly making his way to Adam's unconscious body on the ground, smiling on how easy it was to surprise and subdue the kat. Standing over the muscular tom now, looking at the small waves of electricity run through his golden shaded fur making the kat whimper and moan in pain, his muscles were pulsating to the shock.
"You're lucky, being spared by the tiger is what most would consider an honor. But now that you're out of the way its time to get down to business and complete my end of the deal" Fumbling his hand inside his power suit pocket the electric mad kat brought out a small needled container, popping off the safety top he stabbed himself in the arm feeling the piercing sting draw blood and the contents of the vile rushing through his veins and course through his body. It didn't take long for Hard Drive to forget the pain, his muscles and blood boiled as warm saliva slid off the side of his mouth. Eyes shooting open like a bat exposed to light the villain smiled tossing the now empty vile to the wall, his power grew with every passing second, Hard Drive levitated himself again and faced the wall to his left blasting it down. The stone and brick pieces flew at his electric bubble and bounced off, hitting around him and landing on top of Adam, turning his fur a dark shade of gray along with the rest of the hallway, the smoke from the fire found its exit in the clear sky and rose to the outside of the building. Enforcer choppers backed up from the explosion after they saw a shinny blue bubble exit from the hole an descended to the main steps of the hospital, entering without a worry of the Enforcers blasting at his shield as he made his way inside, smiling at his new found abilities. The ringing alarms echoed throughout the first floor, patients and medical staff alike began their evacuation procedures fleeing to the nearest exits at sight. Visitors wasted no time to accompany and aid whoever needed help; Ian and Jackie left the waiting room an hour after their brother Adam had left. Both kats heading through the various passages and corridors looking for their sibling until the lights flashed and the building shook a bit, Jackie lost her balance and knelt down on the floor. Her brother followed suit holding onto her shoulder with his hand, the carts and files crashed onto the ground as papers scattered about covering the tiled floor where the impact was. Callie had gotten a call from the Mayor and had to leave for her to take care of the city, Kyle left with her to tell Jake's parents of the kittens that were due soon. Daisey, Nail and Earl sat in their chairs confused at the alarms and the scattering kats rushing towards the exits, all got up from their seats only to feel the rumble of the building and fall on the ground themselves gasping as they hit the floor.
"W-What in the world?" Daisey felt her elbow burn as she raised herself by her arms, looking around seeing Earl already on his feet again, the smaller kat felt an arm wrap around her waist as Nail brought her up to her feet from behind.
"We should get going I'm sure they've gotten everyone out by now" Earl went over and opened the door, seeing the lights flash bright in the hallway and hardly any kats left inside. Nail and Daisey went over to him looking out as well.
"What about Jake?" The worried sister cupped her hands together close to her chest, both Nail and Earl exchanged glances...not one of them knew what to say and just remained silent.
Jackie and Ian ran through the flashing red and black corridor to the Delivery section where Jake would be, they needed to see if he was doing o.k. along with their mother who was with him. Turning at the corner both the siblings saw their mother in the hallway just about to take off her mask and bloody gloves. Her gown was splattered with some blood and some slight water, most likely from Jake inside the room behind her, looking at the corner of her eye Rita could make out her offspring as they approached her. The nursing staff scrambled out of the building with the newborns tightly covered and snuggled together in their blankets, kittens the size of an oval and yet so delicate slept as their bodies were trapped in the soft cotton linen that helped the little creatures generate heat. Rita watched as all the kittens were rolled and carried out of the hallway, extending her hand out to one nurse as she passed in front of the group. The nurse smiled at the elderly mother and children as she stopped pushing the stroller that carried two kittens inside, one a shade of gold like Chance and the other a mixture of black and blond fur sleeping side by side with one another under the same layers of blankets. Ian and Jackie looked inside as a smile came to their faces.
"Are these...these Jake's mom?" Jackie gasped as she caressed their little faces with her index finger, watching the kittens wiggle at the touch squinting their eyes tighter and wiggling their little noses.
"Yes, he was unconscious when he delivered these two angels so it made things easier on him. There's one more on the way but we can't move him at this point of the procedure. We're giving everything we can to ease the pain, but it's a race against time now...what's going on out here?" Nodding her head at the nurse, she got the hint and strolled the newborns towards the nearest exit following the other staff members.
"We don't know mom but they're evacuating the building after that rumble that shook up everything, maybe an explosion or something from upstairs. We wanted to make sure that everything was fine on this end and you and Jake were safe" Ian said as he walked behind his mother to look through the window of the delivery room, he could only make out the medical staff surrounding Jake but couldn't tell what they were doing. "Why is it taking so long mom?"
"Since it's an early birth, the muscles are tightening instead of loosening. Normally they would tighten but not to this extent, the poor dear is doing his best to relax but in the end we had to sedate him to ease the pain." Rita took out a new pair of gloves and mask from the small bin on the side of the door and began to put them on, Jackie stood behind her mother to help tie up her gown. She felt a sudden shock running up her spine and to the back of her head; it was a weird tingling feeling that lasted for less than a second before her body fell to the ground with a loud thud that followed. Rita looked down on the floor where her daughter laid, her own fur began to stand on ends as she experienced the same feeling before her eyes closed on their own and she lost consciousness, dropping to her knees and falling onto her side. Ian looked back and saw his younger sister and mother on the ground, then looked forward to see Hard Drive standing in front of him with a hand in front of his body as it sparked a bit. He carried a large paper filled binder under the right side of his arm-pit tight, looking down at his prey smiling on the ease of knocking them out. Finally meeting eyes with Ian as he took hold of the binder and opened it up to the page he marked. He looked at the room number and then back down at the page, smiling to himself as Ian went over this sister's side shaking her bit on the shoulder not getting a response. He knew he wouldn't get anything from his mother either, this was a super villain who knew how to kill and didn't regret doing it either. Ian looked up at his enemy with fire in his eyes, standing slowly facing hard Drive as he closed the binder and tossed it to the side not caring that the papers scattered on the floor when it impacted. Both kats stared one another down until Hard Drive began to walk towards Ian not caring for the kats large built body and size.
"My business is inside with that person first, I'll deal with you later" With a small pop sound a ray of light shot out from Hard Drives index finger and connected with Ian's chest, Ian couldn't breath as his body tightened and his heart seemed to stop. His hands dropped to his side as Ian himself dropped to his knees, short gasps of air escaped through his lips as he closed his eyes and fell forward on the floor in between Jackie and Rita. Hard Drive walked over the large kat and stood at the door looking inside the window. "Time to earn my honest dollar" With another flash the door shattered open into the room as Hard Drive walked in surprising the medical team, from outside cracks of lightning and screams filled the air as flashes of light passed through the doorway. Some would call it a silhouette of death.
~Meanwhile~
T-Bone raced through the hallway, bypassing and avoiding the evacuating staff and squads of Enforcers who were probably looking for him and Hard Drive. Sliding on the waxed tile and hitting his shoulder on the corner of a wall, T-Bone muffled his own cry of pain with his fist in his mouth biting down hard on his own flesh. Finally making it to the section where they delivered kittens, T-Bone combed through the halls trying to find a clue to where Jake would be. Finally taking a moment to catch his breath T-Bone leaned against one of the walls in the hallway he was in, remembering about his injuries from the crash landing in the city. His body burned and felt sore all over, but his mate and kittens were in danger and he needed to be by their side. If T-Bone could just know that Jake was taken somewhere safe then he would be at peace, but he didn't have that delicious information that would make him sleep a thousand calm nights. Sucking in his final relaxing breaths before standing straight up and hiding his pain he felt from his ribs, moving his feet once again at a fast pace down the hallway turning corners. Making his way through a pair of metal doors T-Bone found some kats on the ground in front of a room, rushing to their side to see if they were o.k, he realized it was his own family.
"MOMMA?!?!?!" T-Bone held Rita in his arms kneeling to her level on the floor; she didn't respond but softly moaned as her son shook her body slightly. T-Bone looked at Ian and Jackie in the same state, his heart pounded fast and erratic and his blood boiled inside his veins, there was a bright flash that came from the room in front of him. T-Bone placed his mother back down on the floor gently and entered the room slowly, T-Bone held his nose smelling something similar to burning rubber and heavy iron in the air. T-Bone moved the curtain in front of him aside and froze with shock, Hard Drive had his hand placed atop of Jake's side, small electrical currents ran through his body as Jake arched his back opening his mouth, but no words or sounds came out. Hard Drives grew a smugged grin on his face having completed his assignment, without hesitation T-Bone leaped in the air and tacked the menace on the ground holding his hands on either side of him. Jake's body fell back onto the bed passed out, T-Bone quickly brought his fist up and slammed back down onto Hard Drives face, again and again he pummeled him feeling his enemy lose strength.
"You hurt my family and my mate..." Another blow to his cheek, blood squirted out of Hard Drives mouth and landed on the tiled floor.
"AND MY KITTENS!!!" Again and again he beat down onto Hard Drive, the villain underneath him stopped breathing and moving all at once. T-Bone slowly got to his knees wide eyed looking down onto the bloody flesh and broken boned fiend. Hard Drives neck snapped when he was tackled, and the beating he got from the SWAT Kat finished the job. Now standing over Hard Drives lifeless body realizing ha he had just done, looking down onto his bloody paws that stained his golden colored fur, he had taken a life by his own hands. T-Bone removed his helmet and bandanna as he stepped away to Jake's side, holding Jake's limp hand. Jake was breathing heavily shifting in his bed violently, Chance held onto Jake's shoulder with his free hand trying to calm his lover but he knew he was hurting on the inside and so were his babies. Commander Feral came into the room with a soldier and doctor right behind him, all gasping at the dead bodies of the medical staff and Hard Drive on the ground. The Doctor quickly moved to Jake's side and took his vitals, Feral ordered the soldier to get help for the unconscious kats outside of the room who began to stir awake. Moving over to Chance's side he placed a hand on the hero's shoulder.
"You know...I'm sure that a certain SWAT Kat wouldn't want to be here for long. You can come back when no one knows who you are" A tear fell down Chance's eye as he put his helmet back on and bandanna underneath, standing up limping on the wall and slowly making his way out of the room. "I'll stay with him until he's better, you have my word on that" Feral looked to the door to see no one there anymore. Chance didn't make eye contact Feral, the shock was creeping up the back of his head as he tried to hold back his sobs; slowly he got up and dressed his mask and helmet on again before bolting out the door. Wave after wave of pain vibrated throughout Chance's body with every step he took, but it didn't matter now and it didn't seem to stop T-Bone from reaching the nearest exit and get to a safe, disclosed location for him to change out of his flight suit. Two more nurses came into the room and inspected the medical staff on the floor, they were all dead.
~Hours Later~
Chance entered through the now cleared hospital entrance seeing the hustle and bustle of other kats talking about the events earlier that day and the SWAT Kat killing Hard Drive to save someone's life. Commander Feral didn't make any negative comments about T-Bone in the interview with Kats Eye News, it surprised Ann Gora a bit but since this was the first ever reported scenario of a SWAT Kat taking someone's life she imagined everyone was a bit stunned at the though. Hiding his limp the best he could Chance moved more down the hall to his destination, within minutes he reached the area where Jake was resting after the delivery, his family and friends were waiting in the lobby. Once Chance entered the area Rita rushed over to her son and gave him a hug, kissing him on the side of his face and brushing his hair softly, Chance hissed at the embrace feeling his sore body pulsated pain signals to his brain but he did his best to hide it. Rita let her son go for a moment as she looked up into his tired eyes.
"Chance baby, where have you been?"
"Saving the world momma, you know that" Faking a smile as they both took a seat, Rita held onto Chance's hand rubbing the top of his palm with her thumb making small circles and weird outsides on his skin.
"How is he?"
"Worn out I'm afraid, and highly drugged up after that attacker..."
"What do you mean? What happened?" Chance looked down at his mother, meeting similar eyes at one another again.
"Chance...your kitten didn't make it. That mad kak killed the poor thing from the inside and..." Before she could finish Chance took his hand from her grasp and stood up, biting down on his fist growling, forming tears in his eyes. Thinking to himself about how much time he could have saved if he didn't take as many breaks to semi-heal from his earlier injuries. But it all played over and over in his mind aging and again...he did all that he could and that was that. Ian walked over to his brothers side and placed his hand on top of Chance's shoulder, Rita got up from her seat as well and continued to talk. "...But the first two did baby, their alive and healthy for being born early" Rita smiled as she turned Chance's head slightly, he could see two small creatures wrapped in tight bundles of cloth. One being held by Adam and the other being held by Anna, cute little kittens sleeping in their comfortable sheets of warms and held tightly in the embrace of the older kats. Chance froze, not a thought passed through his mind, not a muscle moved throughout his entire body or a single breath passed through his lips. Slowly he walked over to his brother and sister and knelt in front of the two who looked at the father of the lovely bundles of joy they were holding, tears fell from Chance's eyes as he slowly brought his finger up to the nose of his daughter who shifted in her spot sniffing the scent of her father and squeeking slightly. It brought a smile to Chance's face as he brought his other hand to the top of his son's head and scratched it softly as, he too, wiggled in his spot yawning. Smiling down at his kittens Chance nuzzled his nose softly on both their little heads, licking them slightly messing up their fur a bit, gasping in pain the burly kat tried to stand on his feet but fell back down on his knees. Ian quickly went to his brothers side and helped him up.
"What happened to you Chance? You feel so...tenderized" Ian held on tight to his brothers shoulders helping the smaller kat stand, Rita walked over to her son and checked his pulse on his wrist.
"Baby, whats the matter?" Moving her hand to his neck feeling the pulse.
"Where's J-j-j-jake?" Chance was beginning to feel dizzy and felt the darkness creep over him, he needed to see his mate but he couldn't move his feet. Ian held his ground and the weight of his brother who was beginning to trip over his own feet. With a sudden drop, Chance gave into the eerie feeling from his head and blacked out in Ian's grasp, Nail and Daisey rushed over to his side and helped Ian lay him on the ground. Rita began to establish responsiveness with her son, but she got nothing back.
"Someone go get a doctor quickly!!!!" Rita shouted, Daisey and Jackie both went to search for one. Nail and Ian knelt next to Chance's body and noticed he was breathing hard and fast, beginning to work up a sweat. Nail started to take off Chance's shirts, when it was fully removed there was a loud gasp that caught the air as the group looked upon Chance's bruised and swollen body. "Chance...what happened to you?" Rita covered her mouth with her hand, when she looked up a doctor knelt next to the group and began to do his preliminary examination on the unconscious kat.
"We gotta get him to a room quickly and drain the blood thats building up inside. Nurse! A stretcher STAT" Ian knelt beside the doctor and scooped his injured brother into his arms, when the nurses came with the mobile bed the muscular kat placed his brother onto the soft mattress. Immediately they began to back the stretcher into the hallway and hurry down to the examination room, Chance groaned in discomfort as he was wheeled into a bright room and felt the sudden rush of air cover his mouth and nose as it rushed down his throat. Closing his eyes at the sharp pain at his side, Chance could feel his skin rip and hot liquid pour down the side of his fur and onto the mattress staining the white sheets now colored with dark velvet red blood. Another and another sting crawled up the kats body, the pain became too much for him to handle as Chance felt the cold comfort of his body losing consciousness as his eyes dropped faster than a boulder off a cliff. Light headed and weighing more than he normally did Chance gave into his body's need for rest and recovery, the only thought that crossed his mind was his mate Jake who must have been in pain and mourning over their lost kitten. Soon the pain and the thinking passed, voices blurred out and only silence comforted the injured hero. The events of the day played over and over again in Chance's mind, the TurboKat which was probably taken by the Enforcers by now waiting to be hacked into and stripped for its technology. The crash landing Chance had to make suddenly when he entered the E.M.P bubble that scared the living daylights out of the pilot, and exposure of his identity to his former Commander and biggest "fan" Commander Feral...now the killing he committed by taking Hard Drives life and dealing with the fact that his child died by his hands.
Chance's didn't even know if Jake was alright or not, sweating heavy onto his pillow and sheets, tossing and turning in his bed trying to get comfortable in his bed. Slowly his senses came back to the kat, the smell of clean linen and a musky room suffocated his nose, constant air once again flew down his mouth and the never ending pain from his sides returned, though it didn't hurt him as much now as it did before. The golden tabby slowly opened his eyes, the ceiling of the room was dark and dim looking, the light have been cut off, only the small crack of the door exposed the room to little light. Chance looked to his side to see Ian and Daisey sleeping in separate chairs next to one another next to his bed, looking at the clock above their heads Chance read the time, about to hit midnight within a couple of minutes and Chance was still in the hospital. Shifting his sore body a bit Chance managed to roll over to his other side towards the entrance of the room and saw someone in the bed a couple of feet away...it was Jake.