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Chapter 24: Dark Kat's Big Mistake

Less than an hour later, Feral, Felina and a hand-picked squad from his special ops team were arriving at a run-down warehouse about three miles from the docks. Feral had gotten a special warrant to search the premise on the suspicion of Dark Kat's possible presence or signs of his using this as a base.

The undercover operative had also been contacted and waited for them one building from their target. The group stopped there to get an update and make plans for entry.

"Okay, give me your take on the situation." Feral ordered the dark gray Kat dressed in torn black jeans and tattered quilted plaid shirt with long ragged duster and barely serviceable tennis shoes.

"Yes sir. There's been a bit of activity over the last couple of hours. A pair of vans arrived, unloaded some electrical equipment. I've seen no one come out of there since then. No one came out to help those guys unload their vans either." His manner brisk.

"Alright. Better scat before anyone sees you with us and good work." Feral told his operative who nodded and disappeared quickly from the area.

Feral gathered his troops close. "Felina, you take four of the squad and go through the back way. I'll go through the front with the rest. Be alert!"

"Yes sir!" Felina said then moved off with her group at a brisk trot using any available shadow to keep out of sight.

Feral and his group waited for approximately five minutes until he felt Felina was in position then he lead his group forward.

Dusk was only just falling when they slipped into the building. Though normally they would slam the doors open and yell 'Enforcers', this time called for stealth to see what Dark Kat was up to first before busting him. It wasn't exactly regulation to do it this way but their enemy was the most dangerous of all the omegas and this method was called for to insure the safety of the city.

The front of the warehouse contained a small office...which was empty and silent...the rest was filled with huge boxes that the labels said were filled with heavy machinery. It was dim inside except for lights further toward the back.

Feral lead the way, holding his blaster out and ready while his squad spread out to either side of him. They moved in quietly, keeping their eyes peeled for creeplings and ninjas...minions of Dark Kat.

Through the rear entrance, Felina and her squad found a lighted area and boxes filled with motor parts but no one else. They moved in quietly and searched around for a possible basement area and stairs leading down.

As the two groups converged toward the center of the building, they still hadn't encountered a soul. Feral had just spotted Felina and her group when all hell fell on them.

From the ceiling, creeplings flew down from their perches and attacked the two groups. They screeched loudly and clawed the Kats. The sound of blasters, screams of dying creeplings and cries of pain from injured Enforcers filled the air.

As they succeeded in clearing the air of the creatures, ninjas appeared and a fierce battle was engaged. Even more of Feral's Enforcers fell as he found himself boxed in by attacking creeplings and ninjas. He managed to summon help before he was overwhelmed. He was knocked out and hauled away while Felina and the few Enforcers that were still standing managed to get out of the building just as reinforcements arrived.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

With more help, Felina went back into the building and searched it thoroughly. There was no sign of Dark Kat or anything that he might have been working on. Only dead creeplings and ninjas as well as injured ninjas and Enforcers were left on the scene.

Her heart sank when they found her uncle's blaster and radio but no sign of the Commander. She realized then that this had been a trap. There was no doubt, Feral was now a prisoner of Dark Kat. She would have to be the one to tell his mate.

"Oh, he is going to be soo pissed!" Felina sighed aloud as she cleaned up the scene and wrote her report. She contacted their operatives and had them keep their ears and eyes alert for word of her uncle's whereabouts.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

A few hours later, Feral woke with a headache. He found himself in a small room lit by a dim bare light bulb in the ceiling. There were no windows and a heavy door closed the room off. He was laying on a simple portable bed with a bottle of water and a porta potty was located in another part of the room.

Rubbing his head, he slowly got to his feet and searched his prison. After a few minutes, he could see there was no escape, so returned to the bed to rest. He sat down and reached for the water. Taking a sniff, he didn't smell any harm in it so drank it down.

He couldn't fathom why Dark Kat had taken him prisoner. It wouldn't gain him anything except the focused attention of his enforcers and his mate.

At least he didn't have to wait too long for an answer to his question. Less than ten minutes after he'd sat down on the bed, he heard footsteps outside the door then it opened.

There stood Dark Kat framed in the doorway. Behind him were creeplings.

"Ahh, I see you are awake, Commander. I hope you like your accommodations?" The huge Kat stepped into the room.

"Why am I here, Dark Kat?" Feral didn't rise from his seat since it wouldn't benefit him to confront the big omega just yet.

The huge Kat' eyes glittered with amusement. "You don't know? I thought you would have guessed. Well, no matter. I have plans for Megakat City and they don't include dealing with you so you have to go. The bounty on your head makes things so much easier. I've already contacted the party that's very anxious to regain his property. By tomorrow you will be returning to your master. The money I gain will help finish my grand scheme."

Feral felt a cold chill race up his spine. 'No!' He cried out mentally while keeping his face stony.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about Dark Kat but you won't be sending me anywhere. My mate will find me." He said with a bravado he didn't feel.

Dark Kat snorted in derision. "I truly doubt your lion mate will be able to find you before you're shipped off, Commander. Dinner will be served shortly. I suggest you eat because I'd hate to have to force you. After all, I'm required to hand over a healthy slave." The huge Kat gave that chilling laugh he was so well known for, turned and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Feral felt sick and afraid. Once in that sadist's paws had been more than enough...no way did he want to suffer in them again. He had to get out of here...but how?

As he sat there trying to come up with a way to escape, across the city his mate was roaring with fury from the news he'd just received.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Felina cringed and laid her ears flat to her head. Tendaji was furious and afraid...his roar filled the room and rattled the walls, alerting his pride to his anguish and sending them racing to his side.

Dubaku was the first to arrive, worry and concern on his face. "Ten! What is it?"

"Ulysses has been taken by Dark Kat!"

"Oh no!" Dubaku's heart sank. "Ten...listen to me! Can you hear him?" He urgently grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him.

Ten looked at him in anguish. "No, I can't!"

"Try again...harder, Ten...you must reach out to him and he must reach for you!" Dubaku insisted, giving him another hard shake then letting him go.

Felina blinked in surprised confusion. The Imamu was serious and it was obvious Tendaji believed him because the lion went to his seat and closed his eyes. The frown on his face showed he was trying to do what was asked of him.

Shaking her head at the strangeness of these people, Felina knew she couldn't wait around and hope Tendaji could reach her uncle. Heading for the door, she paused long enough to tag one of the pride males and gave him a message. She told him she was going back to Enforcer headquarters so she would be available for her uncle's operatives should they get a lead on the Commander's whereabouts. The male nodded his understanding then she left at a run for her chopper she'd left on their flight pad.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

As she raced back to the towering Enforcer building, her flight path was intersected by a familiar jet.

"Hey, Lt. Feral is that you?" Came a familiar voice.

"Roger that! Can't talk right now though!" She barked, distracted.

"Woah! What's wrong? You sound a bit uptight." T-Bone asked as he pulled the jet around and took up a parallel course.

Sighing, she answered since they wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. "My uncle was taken by Dark Kat a few hours ago."

"Crud! Then I have just the thing to cheer you up. I put a tracker on him a month ago." Razor piped in.

Felina gasped in surprise and growing hope. She halted her chopper's flight so abruptly that T-Bone was caught by surprise and had to circle back to her then went to hover himself.

"You did? Can you find him?" She asked, eagerly.

"Give me a second!" Razor responded. He engaged his tracking monitor and set the frequency for the device he'd put on Feral. "Damn, he must be out of range. We have no choice but do a grid pattern search."

"Fine! We might as well start where he'd been taken. Follow me!" Felina ordered. Changing course, she flew toward the warehouse district at top speed. On the way, she changed frequencies to the Enforcer channel to inform them of her course change and what she and the SWAT Kats were going to do, warning them to keep traffic out of the search area then changed frequencies again to the one she'd just obtained from Tendaji's security. She informed them of what they were trying to do and to notify Tendaji.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

At Tendaji's security office, a member of his pride raced from the radio room to his superior's office.

Tendaji was sitting at his desk, head in paws, desperately trying to reach his mate through their bond but still not having any success when the messenger ran in.

"Sir, we've just received a message from Lt. Feral. The SWAT Kats had put a tracer on the Commander a month ago and they are now trying to track his signal. She says they are going to do a grid search pattern starting from the warehouse where he was taken." The young lion spat out quickly.

Tendaji's eyes sprang open and he was up from his seat as if he'd been shot. "Notify my pilot to ready a cargo chopper and be ready to take off immediately."

The messenger nodded an acknowledgment and fled back the way he'd come.

"Dubaku, you and Kunto come with me!" He ordered as he headed upstairs to his chopper pad.

The three raced upstairs. The chopper was already being warmed and the pilot was clearing their flight plan with Megakat Tower as the three boarded along with two more guards. They put on headphones and their restraints. Minutes later, they were lifting off and heading at top speed toward the location given by Felina.

Joining the search party some minutes later, they followed in the Turbokat's wake as Razor kept his eyes glued to his screen for a blip that would tell them where Feral was. It was a slow and time consuming search.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Feral was too nervous to eat what a ninja guard had brought him but remembering Dark Kat's threat he tried to eat a little of it then tossed some of it into the porta potty. Leaving the tray, he moved to the back of the bed and pressed his back against the wall. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he rested his head on them and prepared to do something he hadn't given credence to but had no other choice but to attempt.

Fear clutched his chest. He was terrified that he wouldn't be found in time and the thought of being in that sadist's paws once more made him want to throw up. He closed his eyes tight and reached for his mate. If ever he needed this bond to work, it was now.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Meanwhile, in his chopper, Ten was doing the same thing. His eyes were closed tight and he was reaching for all he was worth for any sign of his mate's mind. Icy fingers of fear clawed at his insides. They just had to find him. He couldn't bear to think of the alternative.

Midnight passed with no sign of their target. They all had to leave the search to refuel but just as fast as they could, they all returned and began again.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"This is bad, buddy! We should have gotten a blip by now." T-Bone said tightly as he directed the jet to a new search parameter.

"I know! I just wish I knew what the heck Dark Kat wants with Feral." Razor said tightly as his eyes kept their focus on the screen.

"Yeah, me too!"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

In Tendaji's chopper, Dubaku gently placed his paws on Ten's shoulders and sent tendrils of his own life energy into him to help bolster his attempts to reach his mate.

Ten's head was throbbing after hours of effort to pick up anything at all of his mate. He thought he'd sensed a brief emotional surge but couldn't be sure since it was to quick. It could have been himself he was hearing but he couldn't give up.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

In his tiny cell, Feral's head was also throbbing from his efforts. He thought he'd sensed fear but couldn't be sure it wasn't his own interfering. Shaking his head, he paused and scooted off the bed to use the porta potty then drank a bottle of water from the several that had been left for him. Sighing, he climbed back on the bed and returned to the position he'd been sitting in for hours and closed his eyes.

The first blush of dawn was filling the skies as the Turbokat began to cover the last quadrant of their search. This was closer to the mountains, a favorite hide-a-way for Dark Kat. Hopes were flagging but they continued on doggedly.

Feral knew time was passing and he was getting more frantic and exhausted. He reached with everything he had to try and find Tendaji. Just when he thought his head would split from the effort and his aching, tired body was going to give up, he was finally rewarded.

Tendaji shouted in triumph. Dubaku quickly relayed that Ten had succeeded in reaching Feral just as Razor shouted that he had a signal. T-Bone sent the jet toward the signal as quickly as he dared with Felina and Tendaji's choppers hurrying in his wake.

"Ten! Oh thank god!" Feral mewed in relief as his mind connected with his mate for the first time.

"My love! Are you alright?" Ten asked anxiously through their link.

"Dark Kat intends to give me over to that bastard who bought me at the slave market sometime today. Can you find me?"

"No, he won't my love! Razor has got your signal from the tracker they apparently put on you and we're zeroing in on your location this minute." Ten said joyfully.

"Thank god! The SWAT Kats had asked me to wear that over a month ago, just in case." Feral said a little uneasily, not certain if Ten would be upset by that piece of information.

"Normally, I'd be pissed, Uly but under the circumstances I'm very grateful they did." Ten reassured him. "God, love I was so terrified!" He murmured, caressing his mate through their bond.

Feral moaned at that extraordinary feeling of being touched in this fashion. It made him feel safe and warm. Truly this form of communication was awesome. 'So this was what the bond was supposed to feel like.' He thought in dazed amazement.

"Yes, love it is and it allows for so much between us especially during sex." Ten said with a smirk, easily hearing his mate's thought.

Feral felt his face blush. He could just imagine what it must be like to actually feel what Ten was feeling while they made love. It made him feel hot and needy suddenly.

Ten sighed and basked in the warmth of his mate's mind in his. 'At last, it feels like a part of me is finally complete.' He thought, forgetting Ulysses could hear him in his relief at the opening of the bond by his mate.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to make this happen." Feral said, embarrassed by the way he had resisted this so hard.

"Oh love, it wasn't your fault. I can see why it was so difficult for you to believe it and to accomplish this at last." Ten soothed.

"Dubaku was right. It took a serious crisis for me to completely open up to you."

"Yeah, and I'll never hear the end of it, either." Ten chuckled.

"Ten, we're landing!" Dubaku shouted in Ten's ear.

"Love, we've found you. Should be there soon." Ten told Ulysses.

"I'll be waiting!" Feral said, feeling his mate becoming occupied though still open to him just as he was doing from his end. Getting off the bed, he pulled off the bedding then went to stand behind the door, ready to throw his pawful on anyone who came through the door to delay them.

Through the open connection between them, Feral watched in fascination as his mate with the SWAT Kats, Felina, and six other lions came charging into an old building that had apparently been an abandoned military facility.

The rescuers encountered no resistance at first until they reached a basement stairwell where Razor's tracker indicated Feral was located. Here they ran into fierce resistance by ninjas and creeplings. The lion's fury and strength coupled by the SWAT Kats weaponry, helped them sweep away the enemy.

Dark Kat nearly got them with one of his nifty blaster cannons but Razor managed to knock it away with an octopus missile with T-Bone following up quickly with a tarpedo that pinned the omega against a wall before the creep could engage his favorite weapon, a bomb.

Feral was watching it all through the eyes of his mate and was relieved when Dark Kat was firmly taken out. Whatever he had planned for the city was now stopped in its tracks, to Feral's intense relief. Now all he had to do was wait for his mate to release him. He threw the bedding back on the bed and waited impatiently. It was only a matter of ten minutes more before rescue came his way.

"He's down here!" Ten said firmly as he raced down a dark hallway. The SWAT Kats brought up the rear using their bright spotlights on their helmets to shine the way in the dark basement area.

Coming to a heavy door, Ten stopped. Before opening it he sent a message.

"Look out love, it's me on this side of the door!" He said with a little amusement as he'd seen what his mate had intended to do if someone rushed into the room.

Feral sighed in relief and moved away from the back of the door. Only then did Ten open the door and rush to his mate.

In a shocking surge of need and emotion, Feral threw himself into his mate's welcoming arms. The contact set off an intense surge of emotions that overwhelmed them both as they set to kissing each other desperately.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

To the watchers, it seemed as if they were trying to climb into each others skin.

Dubaku could see the flare of intense emotions in the pair's aura and knew they would have to have some time together before they could leave here. He turned and pushed everyone else back into the hall, shutting the door firmly behind him.

T-Bone looked at the lion in shocked surprise. "Hey, why did you close them in there?" He and Razor were a little stunned by the normally stoic Chief Enforcer's rather intense, emotional greeting of his mate.

"They need time alone. Their bonding has finally been completed and the rush of emotion through it is overwhelming them both. Before they can think of anything else, they must be together now. We just have to be patient. I suggest you three wrap up the prisoners and have them hauled to enforcer headquarters. Felina, I'm sure you can take it from there and get the paperwork done on Dark Kat's arrest and whatever else that needs doing on your end. SWAT Kats, thank you so very much for saving a member of our pride. When they can think again, I know they will be thanking you too." Dubaku said with a relieved smile.

Eyebrows raised, both T-Bone and Razor glanced at the closed door then turned back to the lion and shrugged.

"Hey, you're welcome. Just glad I convinced Feral to wear that tracker." Razor said casually as the pair took their leave.

"And I am truly glad you did, guys. Thanks!" Felina slapped them both on the back as she went with them back upstairs.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant." T-Bone's gruff voice echoed back to the lions standing with a flashlight outside the door of the happily united couple.