Living in the Past
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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Title: LIVING IN THE PAST
Author: ulyferal
Rating: K+
Warnings: Profanity and some violence.
Disclaimer: “SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron,” its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.
Chapter 14: End of the Pastmaster
Giving his partner a significant look that plainly said, “Let’s get this done so Callie will be okay,” T-Bone took up a flanking position beside the Queen while Razor took the opposite side. They planned on going in low while Callista kept a magical shield before and above them as they charged into the secluded courtyard.
On the other side of the door, the Pastmaster sensed his protective spells unraveling. Furious, he turned away from casting one of the many preliminary spells he needed done and turned with his watch to face whatever was trying to get into his work space.
Seconds later, the door hit the ground with a loud boom, and there was his enemy and heart’s desire, Callista. Her amulet glowing a brilliant emerald as she stepped through to face him and at her side, coming in low, were those infernal SWAT Kats.
Nearly screaming with frustration, he launched a volley of levin bolts at his enemies. “NOOO! I’ve planned far too long to be thwarted now!” he shrilled.
He must have given a silent command because his two assistants let loose levin bolts of their own. Though not as strong as their master, the bolts did distract and cause the good guys enough concern to make them duck the blasts. And, to make matters even more difficult, gargoyles and dragons appeared from the top of the high walls that encircled the courtyard, diving at them.
“Aw crap!” Feral snarled as he used a slingshot affair to fire one of the F pods at the dragons as one of the pair headed straight for him. He missed his mark when the dragon pulled its head to the side and turned away but did score, and totally disintegrate, a gargoyle. It was one of the Queen’s archers and Razor who took out the dragons only after the huge beasts had laid waste to the courtyard, nearly frying them.
However, despite the damage the dragons had done, it was the Pastmaster that was causing them the most problems. Neither T-Bone nor Razor, or Feral for that matter, had ever seen the sorcerer this furious before. The squat gnome was firing spells with far more deadly force that sent many of the small band flying into walls, knocking some of them out.
Feral had been left seeing stars for several seconds when his head came into contact with the rim of the scrying pool. But, as he tried to get his wits about him, he saw a gargoyle making a good attempt at trying to brain him again with a piece of the wall that the dragons had blasted off. He just managed to roll out of the way, but it turned in midair and came at him again. He frantically looked around for a weapon, but nothing was at hand but another piece of brick. He snatched it up and flung it.
At the same time, seeing Feral’s danger, Razor fired the last of his octopus missiles and shattered the thing.
Relieved, Feral scrambled to his feet and made an end run around the courtyard to see if he could come in behind the Pastmaster while Callista, two of her knights, and the SWAT Kats kept his attention firmly on them.
Though tall, he made himself as small as possible and used the greenery surrounding the courtyard to hide himself as best he could. His heart was in his throat as he got closer and closer to the practically glowing and furious omega.
The Pastmaster’s single eye glared with madness and fury. He didn’t seem to be tiring at all as he continued to hammer all of them with his watch. He was slowly pushing the Queen and her allies back into the main hall.
Feral was nearly behind the Pastmaster when, to his horror, a door beside him suddenly opened and out spilled the two assistants that had gone for Ms. Briggs. Apparently, the Queen’s knights had failed to catch them as the blond she-kat was still in their clutches. They halted in shock when they saw Feral.
Fortunately, the Pastmaster was still preoccupied with the enemies before him and making too much noise to hear the small commotion behind him, which Feral put to good use, slamming Ms. Briggs and the two assistants back through the door before the omega learned they were there.
Once through the door, he closed it then leaped at one of the wizards struggling to stand up, putting the tom in a brutal strangle hold with one paw.
Ms. Briggs wasn’t idle. Though sore and a little stunned by being bowled over by Feral, she quickly recovered enough to deliver a sharp elbow thrust into her captor’s ribs then rolled off and got to her feet. While the wizard was trying to recover his breath, she kicked him in the unmentionables. He squealed in anguish, curling into a ball.
Feral winced at her method of disabling but said nothing as he leaned down and delivered a quick rabbit punch to the assistant’s head, ending his squeals. Turning back to the door, he murmured, “Good work, Ms. Briggs. The Queen, her knights, and the SWAT Kats are trying to stop the Pastmaster but aren’t having a lot of success. I’m going to see if I have better luck. Stay behind me,” he quickly warned her as well as brought her up to date with what was going on outside the door.
“Good luck!” she said softly behind him. She stayed against the wall and watched as Feral opened the door a crack and peered out.
Feral grimaced. Things hadn’t gotten any better since he stepped away from the battle, and the Pastmaster was no longer in a good position for him to do anything. He dared to open the door a little more and tried to see where everyone was.
Opposite him, the SWAT Kats were standing at either corner of the courtyard, using any bit of cover they could as they fired everything they had at the sorcerer. He knew they had to be nearly empty. Queen Callista and two of her still living knights were pinned down in the main hall just beyond the open doorway, unable to charge back in to the fight. The Pastmaster was guarding the scrying pool and continuing to fire levin bolts from his watch. However, Feral noticed, he was being very careful not to bring down any of the walls to the courtyard, which would have ended this draw much quicker.
Hmm, he must need the courtyard the way it is to do his spell, Feral mused. That might have been a good thing if he would ever tire out before we’re empty of ammunition, but that just doesn’t seem likely. What do we do now? Feral chewed on his lip in frustration. The situation, strategically, was the worst it could be.
Seeing Feral remaining immobile in the door, Callie dared to press against him enough to see out as well. Her heart sank. No wonder Feral hadn’t moved. It looked hopeless out there.
Then, suddenly, a roar of voices and the heavy tramp of feet was heard rushing toward the deadlocked battle. Seeing the Queen’s army rushing toward him, the Pastmaster cursed and directed his watch toward that quarter, leaving off his divided attack on all of them. This left the SWAT Kats and Feral a chance.
Catching the pair’s eyes, Feral signaled his plan to charge the Pastmaster from behind. They nodded and hurriedly began moving to do the same. Feral waited until they were all in position then the three rushed forward.
Sensing the attack from the rear, the Pastmaster raised his other hand and blasted behind him. He wasn’t very accurate, but since he sprayed rather than directed his blast, it did what he wanted. Being tall, Feral got a blast to the chest and was sent slamming to the wall behind him. T-Bone got winged but crouched deeper and kept coming while Razor, being as short as the Pastmaster, opted for scrambling at ground level toward his target.
He was more successful as he reached the sorcerer’s legs and tackled him. The watch’s power arched upward to the sky harmlessly as T-Bone came in from the side and snatched the glowing thing from the gnome’s paw. Its heat and energy made T-Bone drop it immediately, but, fortunately, it stopped firing and lay glowing, harmlessly, on the ground.
The Pastmaster was now nothing more than a maddened thing of claws and flashes of magical energy the sorcerer could still fire from his paws. Razor was hard put to keep from being slashed or hit with levin bolts as he and the omega rolled about on the ground, each trying to get the upper paw.
It was even harder for either Feral or T-Bone to get close enough to help as the bolts came very close to singing either one of them. It was Queen Callista who put an end finally to the fight.
“Let go, Sir Razor!” she commanded, her amulet at the ready.
Razor heeded her called and released the Pastmaster and rolled frantically away. Before the Pastmaster could target anyone else, the Queen caught him in a strange, glowing body bind. He screamed and cursed at her as he hung in the air.
“You will not defeat me!” he roared, squirming ineffectually against his bonds.
“And, you will never threaten my kingdom again,” she thundered back. She called out a strange sequence of words, her amulet glowing blue then red with her last spoken words.
The Pastmaster screamed in pain and denial, “Noooooo…” His body began to turn wispy then vanished all together, his voice fading away then all was silent.
No one moved for several seconds, only their harsh panting could be heard as the adrenalin began to wear off.
“Is he gone for good?” Sir Gregory asked, voice hushed. He and his troops had been the ones to cause the needed distraction to defeat their enemy. His clothes bore burns and rents and his face was bruised and bleeding as he stood there, silently staring where the Pastmaster had been.
“Yes, he is. I’ve sent him into the void where he can never escape. And, to insure no accident can return him…” She aimed her amulet at the Pastmaster’s watch and had it come to her. “This will be used to send you all home then destroyed.”
“Fantastic! At last we won’t have that peabrain haunting us ever again,” T-Bone said, grinning in relief.
“Finally!” Razor sighed, rubbing a sore shoulder.
“I assume your battle was successful, Sir Gregory?” Feral asked the first knight.
“Yes, Sir Feral. We lost twenty souls, but the castle is ours,” the tired knight said, smiling.
The Queen smiled at them briefly before turning her attention to the skies. “The time is close upon us to send our allies home,” she warned quietly. Sir Gregory, send my assistants to me so I may complete my preparations.”
“Yes, my Queen,” the knight said, bowing then shouted an order to one of his knights out in the main hall. With that done, he leaned close to another knight and gave other orders. That worthy took off at a jog through the doorway. “My Queen…”
“Yes?” she asked, her attention already on the scrying pool.
“Does thee wish me to have this area cleaned up for thy spellcasting, my Queen?”
“Oh, yes, thank thee kindly, Sir Gregory.”
Nodding to himself, the First Knight set about barking orders to his knights to begin cleanup of the debris left from the battle. “Just take all that out into the main hall… don’t worry about being tidy about it, but this area must be absolutely spotless!” he commanded.
His troops immediately got busy hauling away debris, even recruiting the servants of the castle to help do the work so it would get done faster.
“Would you like us to help?” Feral asked solicitously, the SWAT Kats standing near and listening too.
“Nay, Sir Feral. You and your comrades must stand and be ready when the Queen is finished with her preparations. The rest of your fellows are even now being brought here, so relax and rest,” Sir Gregory insisted then turned away and took charge of the cleaning up.
With nothing else they could do and not wanting to disturb the Queen as she worked, the four future kats, decided to wait within the hidden room that Callie had watched the battle from so they were out of the way. They left the door open and watched. The space was large enough for all to sit and relax even after their fellow Kats joined them.
Lt. Farthington lead the group and saluted Commander Feral when he was directed to where they would wait.
Feral smiled broadly and returned the salute. “You did a fine job, lieutenant, and I will see to it you get a promotion for it.”
The slim, sliver furred and young lieutenant blushed with pride. Getting a compliment from the Chief Enforcer was a rare thing. “I’m glad what small things I could do had helped, sir,” he said, shyly. “Are we going home sir?” he couldn’t resist asking.
The rest of his charges listened and watched to see what the Commander would say, just as anxious for the answer too.
“Queen Callista is setting up the spell to do just that. All we can do is wait until she calls for us,” Feral reassured them.
Sighs of relief filled the small room.
“But, what about all the others, sir? How will they return?” the lieutenant asked anxiously.
“She will cast another spell to send them home too. They are in a cavern where we’ve been hiding and are gathered, just as we are, waiting to leave.”
Leaning closer, Farthington asked softly, “Did we lose many, sir?”
Feral’s eyes were grim. “I’m afraid there are only 227 left. Counting your group, we go home with 247 out of the 290 we started with. Not counting the first 20 the Pastmaster killed before we escaped.”
The lieutenant’s face fell. Those were high losses, but nowhere near as many as they normally lost during the war against the omegas. However, it still made him feel bad. “Glad we don’t have to worry about that creep any longer,” he growled.
“I agree. Within hours, we should be home,” Feral murmured.
The lieutenant nodded and decided to rest while he waited, seeking an empty part of the floor to relax on while his Commander and Deputy Mayor continued to stand and watch the Queen. Sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall near them were the SWAT Kats, heads on their raised knees, obviously exhausted and catching a nap while they could.
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