‘Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.‘ -F.P. Jones
Location: Megakat City. Date: Early September, 1995
Jake Clawson was happy. More than happy actually. He was ecstatic. Today was the day that he converted the name Sami Higgins into Sami Clawson. As he put on his tuxedo, he felt a pang of remorse for his sister, Kate. She would have loved to be at her brother’s wedding. But then, what’s gone is gone. He had had revenge on her killer. The funeral had been conducted. Live and let live, his mother always said.
Chance had let his partner enjoy life. Not many kats experienced so much pain during six days. Marcus had the paperwork under control and Chance barely managed to pull through with the cars in the repair bays. Today was Jake’s day. And with what he had been through the week before, Chance wasn’t going to let anything happen to his buddy, his friend.
Sami was as nervous as a mouse in a room full of kats. She hoped her gown appealed to Jake, he deserved something good after last week. Her mother and father would be there to give her away. She wondered if Jake was as nervous as she was.
Felina had decided to help her fiancé with the cars sitting in the repair bays. With the wedding at two o’ clock, they had to get as much work done on the cars as possible. As their own wedding drew near, Chance and Felina were becoming more and more attracted to each other. She too felt sorry for Jake.
Marcus had just finished up the last of the paperwork and was headed to the kitchen for a can of milk when he realized the time. They were going to be late for the wedding. He grabbed his coat and rushed to the garage.
Jake was playing with his claws, looking at his watch. Chance and him had saved up money to rent a limo for today’s occasion. As he sat in the back seat, He wondered if the three hundred dollars would be worth it. Chance had wanted him to enjoy himself. As he said, it was his day.
Sami waited impatiently for the limo. It was already 1.34 p.m. They would probably be late. She sighed in relief as the limo pulled into view. She opened the door and got in.
‘What took you so long?’
‘Traffic.’ She smiled at him.
‘Liar.’ Jake smiled back. It had only been two months and she knew him so well.
‘Well, today is the day, Sami.’
‘Mmmhmm.’
‘Nervous, Ms. Enforcer?’ She laughed.
‘You don’t know the half of it.’
‘To tell the truth, so am I.’
‘Really?’ Jake nodded. Sami smiled.
‘Well then, let me loosen those nerves of yours,’ said Sami as she pulled him close.
Delvana had sworn to take the life of the kat who killed her sister. She would keep that oath. Meanwhile, she had other matters to take care of. Her eyes narrowed.
‘Just you wait Swatkat. Just you wait.’
The tow truck and the limo arrived at the church almost simultaneously. Jake opened the limo’s door and took Sami’s paw.
‘We have arrived, my dear bride-to-be.’ Sami simply smiled. Felina, Chance and Marcus got out of the tow truck. Chance took one look at Sami’s gown and his heart began to pound. He wondered if Felina would wear something like that on their wedding. Felina walked up to him and smiled.
‘Yes I will, hotshot,’ hearing his unspoken question. Chance smiled.
As Jake led her up the aisle, he whispered in her ear over the organ music.
‘Did I ever say that your gown is gorgeous, Sami?’
‘I thought you might like it.’
‘Like it? I love it.’ They had to cut their conversation short as they approached the altar.
The priest cleared his throat.
‘Do you, Jake Xavier Clawson, agree to take this kat as your wife and love her, in sickness or in health, until the end of your days?
‘I do,’ said Jake, smiling like a kitten with a new toy.
‘Do you, Sami Higgins, agree to take this kat as your husband and love him, in sickness or in health, until the end of your days?
‘I do.’
‘Then I now pronounce you, husband and wife.’ Cheers went up among the pews as Jake kissed his newlywed wife. Sami returned the kiss, then stopped after some time.
‘Well, Jake, I’ve waited for this moment all my life. It’s finally here, after twenty-six and a half years.’
Jake simply smiled.
Delvana was ready. Ready to take revenge on the kat who had murdered her sister. She fingered her amulet. Soon, soon…
Jake woke up, his side brushing Sami’s. He smiled. Getting out of bed, he dressed, and headed back to the garage.
Chance was already up working on a car from last night.
‘Good morning, lover boy.’
‘You should talk. Who was at Felina’s apartment yesterday night?’ Chance blushed.
‘Yeah, well, hey, You were with Sami. They let it drop at that.
Sami woke up and dressed. She was off duty for the rest of the week, giving her enough time to find out more about Jake. She went to the garage to find Chance and Jake under the hood of a Mazda.
‘Morning Jake.’
‘Morning, Sami.’
She leaned towards him but was interrupted by the alarm.
‘I’ll get it’, Jake announced.
Picking up the phone, Jake said, ‘Yes, Ms. Briggs?’, he said, out of habit.
‘Ms. Briggs? I’m sorry Razor, but I’m Deputy Mayor Douglas.’ His heart sank as he remembered Ms. Brigg’s fate.
‘I’m here Ms. Douglas. What is it?’
‘Turmoil is taking down Enforcer squadrons over City Hall.’
His eyes grew. ‘Turmoil?’
‘If it’s not her then I don’t know who else commands, a big, floating citadel, and takes out the Enforcers with female pilots and a vertigo beam?’
‘We’ll be right there Ms. Douglas,’ said Jake. He turned to see Sami in her uniform, Chance strapping on the G-suit.
‘Gotta go Jake, bye.’
‘See you later Sami, kissing her goodbye.’ He turned to look at Chance.
‘Turmoil?’
‘You sure she didn’t survive?’ Razor rolled his eyes.
‘Name me one kat who can survive after her brains have been blown out with a revolver?’
‘Then who?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said finishing putting on his G-suit.. ‘Come on, let’s go find out who this Turmoil impersonator is.
Delvana watched the Enforcers go down like flies. Come on, Swatkats, she thought. Come on…
‘There it is Razor.’
‘I see it T-bone. Weapons locked.’
‘I’m moving in Razor. See if you can take put the vertigo beam.’
‘Roger that.’ Razor scanned for the source of the vertigo beam and found it right under the ship.
‘Matchhead missiles, away! Three missiles streaked toward the vertigo beam. The beam turned and took down two of the missiles. The third one however smashed into the beam, rendering it unusable.
‘Bingo!’, shouted Razor.
Delvana smashed her fist on the control panel.
‘Damn! Those Swatkats are more annoying than I thought. Seeker!’
‘Yes Delvana?’
‘Deploy the vertigo bomb and raise the shields.’
‘Yes Delvana.’
A small rounded object fell from the citadel and exploded, surrounding Megakat City with a yellow glow.
T-bone’s vision became hazy and out of focus. The G-reader read 7+ g’s. The strain was too much. He blacked out.
Razor was straining to keep awake, The Turbokat dropping from the sky.
‘T-bone, wake up buddy…’ The words refused to come out of his mouth. He had only one thought before blacking out: Sami.
Felina fought blackout, pulling up on the throttle of her chopper she managed to land on Main Street before going out like a light.
Sami headed for the citadel in her jet. If she was going down, she was going down in blazing glory. The jet smashed through the side of the citadel as she passed out, one thought in her mind: Jake.
Delvana rose her arm to shield her face from the debris. When she looked at the source of the explosion, she saw that an Enforcer jet in the ship. Curious, she picked up her sniper rifle and walked towards the jet. Opening the cockpit, she saw a she-kat sitting in the pilots seat. Delvana looked at the name tag, Sami Clawson. Clawson. She was related to that Swat Kat!
‘Take her to the prison.’
‘Yes Delvana’
Razor awoke in a prison cell, his friend T-bone in the cell across him. How he had ended up in here was a mystery to him. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
‘Jake?’, the voice was hoarse and indistinguishable, but it definitely wasn’t T-bone’s.
‘Sami? Is that you?’
‘Yeah.’
‘What have they done to you?’
‘No water for the past two days.’
Come to think of it, his throat was rather dry as well.
‘Where are you?’
‘Right here,’ the voice coming from his left. Razor reached out his paw, extending his claws.
‘Reach for my paw, Sami’ She extended her claws as well and put her paw through the bars. They reached for each other and locked their claws together.
‘How touching.’ Razor recognized the tone of voice and looked up at Turmoil.
‘You’re dead.’
‘Obviously, I’m not. But my sister is.’
‘And what exactly do you plan to do about it?’
‘This,’ Delvana pulled out a dart gun and fired it at Sami. Razor heard a moan, then nothing. He grit his teeth, standing up to face Delvana. His paws balled into fists.
‘You’re the same as your sister. Cold and sadistic.’
‘Well we are twins.’
‘Some parents you must have had.’
Delvana picked him up with one paw, lifting him to her face.
‘Have you got something to say about my parents?’
‘No.’
Delvana threw him down onto the floor and ordered her guards to take them to the bridge.
Razor was standing right of T-bone, Sami was slumped beside Delvana’s chair, her body was nothing but skin and bones. Most of her fur had dropped off but she was awake, obviously in pain. Guards, all wielding guns, surrounded Razor and T-bone. Delvana was holding a sniper rifle and she was also wearing an amulet, which looked vaguely like a dragon.
‘I am Delvana, Turmoil’s sister,’ She said, holding up the sniper rifle. ‘Your friend there is dying of the cocula disease, for which there is no cure, ‘except’ this.’ She held up the amulet. ‘Inside is fabled to be dragon’s blood. I will give her the antidote if you answer this question truthfully: Which one of you killed my sister?’ Before Razor could speak, T-bone answered.
‘I did it. Blew her brains out with a revolver.’
‘Very well then…’ she aimed the rifle at him.
‘NOOOO!’ Razor pushed T-bone away from Delvana’s line of fire. Instantly, he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. Then he crumpled to the floor.
‘Razor!’, T-bone knelt down to check on his fallen partner but heard a click and stopped.
‘Get away from him!’ Delvana screamed. Blood began to ooze from Razor’s right arm.
‘And now for your Enforcer friend’, she said to Jake’s body.
‘Wrong again, Delvana.’
Her eyes widened as a leg swept her to the floor, letting off a bullet as she fell. Razor got up, snatched the sniper from her hands ands cocked it.
‘One move and your commander gets it,’ he announced to Delvana’s crew.
‘But, but how?’ Delvana asked. Razor removed an Enforcer army knife from his sleeve and threw it to the floor. It was dented and bloodstained, a sniper bullet halfway through it.
‘Pure titanium,’ said Razor as he snatched the amulet off Delvana’s neck. He went over to Sami who was very weak and had difficulty breathing.
‘Here, drink this.’ He opened the amulet and poured the contents down Sami’s throat. She swallowed and there was an instant improvement. She regained color, and her skin stretched out over her frame. She opened her eyes and looked at Razor.
‘Jake?’
‘It’s me Sami. It’s me, Jake.’
‘Jake, I…’ She was cut off as an Enforcer Army knife drove into her chest. Razor spun around and saw Delvana with a triumphant look on her face. He stood up.
‘You forget, Delvana that I have the gun.’ Lifting the rifle, he let Delvana have it. She fell, blood dripping from her forehead. Razor threw away the gun and tended to Sami. She was in poor condition, although the signs of the disease had disappeared. Razor pulled the knife from the center of her chest, realizing that it had pierced the heart.
‘You’re gonna be alright, Sami,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘You’re gonna be alright.’
He lifted her and headed for the hangar, T-bone close behind. The Turbokat landed at Megakat General Hospital, drawing quite a crowd. Razor jumped out, holding Sami in his arms. As he half-walked, half-ran into the hospital he whispered a silent prayer.
Sami heard a knock on the door, then the squeaking of it on its hinges.
‘Sami? It’s me Jake.’ Jake came in carrying a bouquet of flowers. He set them on the table beside Sami. The ECG on the table showed a stable heartbeat, but according to her doctors, she was in critical condition.
‘Jake?’ He nodded.
‘Don’t die Sami. Please. Don’t give out on me now.’
She smiled. ‘Don’t worry Jake. I’ll be with you. Always.’
‘Oh god, Sami, you’re in critical condition. Why am I even trying…’, Jake leaned his head on her shoulder, his tears wetting her fur.
‘Come on Jake. Grown kats don’t cry.’
‘I know Sami, it’s just that…, you know, we’ve only been married for a week, goddamn it. And now you’re gonna die.’
‘Whoever gave you that idea?’
‘Damn it, stop pretending and face it Sami. You are going to heaven soon. Enjoy yourself up there Sami.
‘Jake, come on. Even if I do die, I’ll be with you forever.’
There was silence.
‘Are you afraid to die Sami?’
‘No, not really. It should be worth the experience, you know coming back and in twenty to thirty years time, say: Hey kids, Mommy went to heaven. Wanna know what it’s like?’
They burst out laughing.
‘I love you Sami.’
‘I love you too, Jake.’
‘Sami…’ No response.
‘Sami?’ Again no response.
‘God, no!’ He rushed out of the room yelling for a doctor. When he returned, the ECG showed a blank line and a steady sound. He balled up his fists and looked at Sami, a smile on her face. The magnetic irons had no effect, serving only to pop her body up and down. Jake just turned around and left.
EPILOGUE
Felina came in, wiping her paws on a rag.
‘So Chance, do you think Jake will get over it.?’ He looked at her.
‘Are you kidding? His sister’s dead, his mother’s dead, his wife’s dead. You gotta be joking!
‘Anyway, you’d better go check on him. He’s been in his room all day.’
‘You’re right.’ Chance got out from under the hood of the Toyota and walked to Jake’s room. He opened the door.
‘What the..’ Jake was standing next to his bed, a gun to his head. He was gritting his teeth in determination.
‘Buddy, NO!’ In the garage Felina heard a gunshot and raced to Jake’s room.
‘Oh my..’ Chance was sitting on the bed, crying his eyes out. Jake was on the floor, blood splattered on the wall, a revolver in his paw.
To be continued. Suckers!
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