I Was a Teenage Mutant Alien Kat

Dimension X :

The red sun set quietly over the horizon, throwing orange shadows  on Megakat city salvage yard,one warm summer evening. Chance Furlong  and Jake Clawson had finished work on Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs’ car  and had stopped to take a rest.

“Whew!” puffed Chance as he collapsed on the couch, “I really can’t  understand what Callie keeps doing to that car. It was a big mess last  time but she completely totalled it this time.” He clutched the remote  and switched on a channel.

“You’re telling me.” said Jake lying on the couch exhausted. “Sometimes I wish Callie would buy a new car..”

Actually both of them liked to see Callie frequently (like every  day or so) and they always hoped that she would have some problem  or the other so that she could come visit them… but they were not willing  to deal with her car troubles as they were always very large…and i  mean large.

Suddenly the alarm in the hanger went off.

Jake sighed,”Our work is just never done…”. The two of them rushed down the ladder and into the hanger to the phone connecting the SWAT Kats to Callie.

“Yes, Ms. Briggs.” said Chance.

“Emergency guys!” said Callie, “I’m at Megakat Bridge, and so  is the Pastmaster. And he’s creating another one of his time  vortexes again.”

“We’re on our way Ms. Briggs,” Chance put down the phone.  “ROCK AND ROLL!” he screamed and the two mechanics ran into the  closet and changed into T-bone and Razor. They boarded their jet, the  Turbokat, and soared into the air ready to kick Pastmaster’s tail  again…….

Dimension Y:

The red sun set over the many buildings and trees in Madras  city, Earth, one hot summer evening. At exactly 5:00 p.m. the school bell  of the zonal school building rang causing a sudden reaction and an exited  mob of kids burst out of the school building eager to either play or get  home. For the 11th grade kids the Chemistry exam was a real killer. You could  tell by their faces as they walked out of the school building (save a few  braniacs).

Arthi Agarwal was exhausted. It had been a sleepless night, a hard  paper and a long day and she was not willing to discuss it with her friends,  which she really liked to do. But all

she wanted to do now was go home and sleep the rest of the day. During the night before she sat up to study but it did her no good, as she forgot  everything in the morning. It was the same old story every exam but she  usually never stayed awake at night. She usually did her last minute studying early in the morning. This time she did both and so was now very tired.

Arthi headed straight for the cycle stand at the boarder of the school  compound. A little away from the cycle stand stood two huge and impressive  Kinetic Honda scooters, one of them belonging to her. Actually it was her  mother’s but she used it more nowadays.

The Kinetic Honda was one of the first ten to come out of the assembly  line and it had a powerful engine and Arthi was very proud of  it.She took  the scooter out of its stand cursing the paper and the teacher who thought  up all those questions under her breath. Oh well, her bad luck, she thought  sadly.

She started the scooter and rode out of the compound and into the tough Madras city traffic. Arthi was happy to have something else to think about for a change. She had learnt to ride the scooter fast (and mind you,this  one was not one of those ikky cutey scooters with no shock absorbers and no  mileage. We’re talkin’ 100cc here.)and she was now an expert at overtaking  those car, bus and lorry drivers who think they own the road.

Arthi wriggled her way through the thick traffic and soon came up to  an empty road. An open road would always attract any rider and so a feeling to fly overpowered her.

“Rock and Roll!”, she whispered to herself and accelerated. The scooter  zoomed down the road with Arthi trying to keep her hair under her helmet  away from her face. She began to sing ‘Born to be wild'(one of her favourites although most of her school friends never cared much for the song). She was  enjoying her ride so much that she did not notice some dark suspicious clouds form in front of her…..

Dimension X:

The Turbokat soared over Megakat bridge where the Pastmaster stood on top of the middle tower. He had created an army of zombies. The zombies  had stopped the traffic on the bridge and were terrorizing the Katizens. The enforcers, as usual, could not stop them and some of them even joined the  army of the dead after being knocked off. Commander Feral, for the umpteenth time, ordered for more chopper backup.

“Guess it’s up to us,” said Razor, looking at the chaos down below.  “Wadaya say, T-bone?”

“LET’S KICK SOME ZOMBIE TAIL!” yelled T-bone and he flew the Turbokat over the Pastmaster.

“The fools!” yelled Pastmaster spying the Turbokat. “This will teach them  to meddle in my plans!” and the Pastmaster shot a beam of light from his  watch which opened a portal and brought forth three to four pterodactyls.

“Crud, Razor! We’re under attack!” yelled T-bone as he tried to avoid the  monsters who were flying after the Turbokat.

“T-bone, I have an idea.” said Razor.

“It better be good buddy.” said T-bone, trying to keep the jet in the air.

“Pretend to lose control and land in that clearing over there. Then we take the cyclotrons to the bridge. We should be able to get through the  zombies and take Pastmaster by surprise.”

“Rodger that.I’m taking her down.”

T-bone did a couple of very convincing wriggles,made the turbokat  fall at an alarming rate, and landed it smoothly into the clearing. This was a trick he had learnt from watching his favourite pilot, the Red Lynx, on tape. This trick  fools them everytime, he thought as he watched the pterodactyls  leave the scene.

“Hope you didn’t pass out buddy.” said T-bone looking back at his partner. No answer.

“Razor?”

“Um…? No,I’m o.k.  C’mon let’s go!” said Razor,snapping out of his sleep and jumping out of the turbokat.

The two SWAT kats boarded their cyclotrons and rode swiftly to Megakat  Bridge.

Meanwhile the Pastmaster stood over Megakat bridge watching over the  destruction he was causing. He was very pleased with himself. The katizens were terrified, the enforcers couldn’t do a thing and the Swatkats were finished.

“And now, for the grand finally!” he said and he held his watch towards the sky and recited a spell. He was half way through the spell when suddenly he felt a hard kick on his back and he felt himself falling down.

“BINGO!”Razor cried triumphantly.

“Nice work buddy,” said T-bone patting his partner on the shoulder. “Now let’s get ’em!”. The two of them went after the Pastmaster using their  delta packs. The Pastmaster was saved by his zombies but they could not  save his watch. It fell to the ground and broke but not before creating a  strange and violent vortex which grew fearcer and more violent by the second…..

Dimension Y:

After a minute Arthi was beginning to notice how dark and windy it suddenly became. But she put the thought aside. In Madras city, sudden summer  storms were common. She was still speeding on the open road on which very few big vehicles were moving and there were very few pedestrian in sight.

Dimension X:

“You fools!” screamed Pastmaster as the two Swatkats landed next to him. “Look what you’ve done!” The zombies and the pterodactyls and  everything else the Pastmaster had created had all vanished, but no one was interested in that. All eyes where on the raging vortex.

“Who knows what will come out of that vortex and whatever comes in  can’t go back because you broke my watch!”

The Swatkats, the Pastmaster and the rest of Megakat city watched  and waited for the inevitable.

Dimension Y:

It was now getting very windy, enough for Arthi to notice. She  slowed down a bit but it was too late. The thunder clouds suddenly came  together and formed a tornado type of thing….right in front of her!

“What the……SHIT!” screamed Arthi and squeezed the breaks on her  scooter as hard as she could, but it never helped. The tornado sucked her  in, her scooter skidded and the force of the tornado rocked her. A peircing pain surged through her body and made her pass out. Everything went black  for quite a long time….

-————————————————————————-

The whole of Megakat city watched the vortex with anxiety (the news crew was there so practically the whole of Megakat city was watching it on  T.V.) waiting for some huge hidious mutated monster to emerge out of the  portal.

Suddenly something medium sized and white which looked something like a  vehicle flew out of the vortex and right at the Swatkats and the Pastmaster. The Pastmaster managed to jump out of the way and avoid it but it took the  Swatkats completely by surprise. The vehicle and the Swatkats flew across the  the bridge and hit against one of the suspention beams.

Everyone ran away in panic as the thing came out in a flash. It was  totally unexpected. The Enforcers had their paws full trying to calm the  katizens. Felina ran towards the Swatkats to see if anyone was hurt. Fortunately, the vehicle was not big enough to squish anyone but it was big enough to  cause a few fractures which it did not, luckily. However the same couldn’t  be said for the little she-kat behind the thing who was lying unconscious  (or dead, Felina couldn’t say).

Meanwhile the Pastmaster managed to collect what was left of his watch  and disappear. Feral and the other Enforcers managed to calm the katizens  and everything grew quiet for the moment. Feral then called his niece to  pilot him back to Enforcer headquarters.

“Check her pulse,” said Felina and followed her uncle through the media crew and the other Enforcers.

The media were too focussed on the chaos that the thing from the portal caused that they didn’t notice the Swat kats take the thing and the vehicle  into a nearby alley.

Razor checked the she-kat’s pulse. There was one and it was getting  stronger. Razor nodded to T-bone and they both turned to look at the  kat, who was coming to.

Arthi groaned. She had been out like a light and now she felt herself ache all over. The pain was immense and she felt it throughout her  body. She slowly opened her eyes. Even that hurt but it didn’t hurt for long. She saw two giant cats staring at her. Arthi froze and forgot the pain. Her eyes grew wider and wider. She tried to scream but she found she could not. She tried to run away but something made her just lie there frozen stiff. There were two cats- one big and the other small. They had on blue and red  clothes and wore masks….like Zorro or BatMAN or any one of those secret identity type crimefighters….SHIT! Why was she thinking of crimefighters at a time like this?

“You O.K.,Ms?” said the small one.

Arthi opened her mouth and then closed it.

“Hey,it’s o.k kid..”,said the big one bringing his huge paw near her.  Arthi suddenly screamed loud and clear. The whole city seemed to echo  with her scream. She stopped screaming after 30 seconds to catch her breath. She then noticed the two cats covering their ears.

“That was very nice.”said the big one sarcastically.

“Sorry..,” wimpered Divya in a very tiny mouse-like voice. She realised  that they were not going to hurt her. She then noticed her  surroundings. They were so much different from the city she was born and bread in. It  was colder as her nose turned cold but she felt stuffy as if she  was in a  fur coat in the middle of summer.

“W..Where am I?” she finally managed to ask the two cats. “You’re in  Megakat city.  In the 20th century,” said the smaller one.

“There’s no Megacat city…..is there?” she asked confused. What is  this place Where are her parents? Why is she feeling so wierd? Arthi  had all her  questions answered within the few minutes she was with  the two cats much to her utter astonishment.

She was the strangest looking she-kitten the two kats had ever seen. She was black all over with a slight tinge of dark brown at the tips of her  ears.Her fur had a red sheen. Nothing could distinguish between her fur, hair  and eyes- they were all black.Usually the she-kats would have a difference in  their hair ,fur,and eye colour but this kat looked wierd. Her pink nose and  glasses,which were oddly set on her face, were a big contrast.

The kitten winched when she tried to move. She seemed terrified at the  sight of them as if she had never seen a kat in her whole life….or was  that really the case.

“Are you alright?” asked Razor.

“No.” replyed the she-kat weakly,”I feel……oh…..I feel like I’ve  just been…..through reconstructive surgery!”

“It’s O.K. We’ll help you.”

“You will?” asked the kat meekly.She squirmed around, winching from pain.

“Anything broken?” asked T-bone, kneeling next to her.

“No.I just…aaaaaoooow…..” she groaned as she tried to straighten her  legs. “I just ache all over .oh! vhat a trip!”.

It was then that the two kats noticed her strange accent.They had never  heard it before.

“Hey, everything is black.” she said and put her paw to her face to  straighten out her glasses,when she stopped.

Arthi had never received such a shock in her whole life. She turned her  hand this way and that and used the other to straighten out her glasses to  have a better look. Her hand looked like some sort of animal hand!She looked  up and down her arm, and then looked at the other one. They were both hairy …immensely hairy. She then looked at her finger nails. All her life she  had been trying to grow her nails ,but they never grew as she bit them….and  now she was rewarded with long sharp claws.

She then immediately pulled up her *salwar* to look at her legs. They  were as hairy as her hands, no,now they’re …paws! Arthi sat silent for  a minute, her mind racing. She was so confused. She could not believe what she was seeing.

“Is something wrong kid?” said a low husky voice. After a moment she  recognised the big cat’s voice,and then a thought came into her mind.

Forgetting the pain again,she removed her school bag which was still on her back. She dug into it and brought out a mirror she always  carried with her and looked into it.

Arthi stared at her face for some time, her mouth open. It had chainged drastically. She put her paw like hand on her face and felt  fur, soft fur. She actually liked the feel of it. She then touched her nose. It was pretty damp , but she didn’t feel the dampness on her nose.She then  noticed that her ears were gone from their original places and had reappeared  on the top of her head. She slowly touched her one of them and suddenly put  her paw down and yelped lightly, watching her ear twitch. That sure tickled.     “What’s the matter kid?” said T-bone,fed up of looking at the she-kat  admiring herself,”Never seen your face before?”

Razor gave him a sharp nudge and he growled softly. The kat looked at  them and then looked at herself in the mirror for sometime and suddenly  yelped, “That’s it!”

“What’s what?” said Razor. He was able to get a vague picture of what  was going on.

“The reason why you’re acting so wierd like.You think I’m one of your  kind!” she said triumphantly although inside she did not know what she was  triumphant about.

“Ain’t you a kat?” said T-bone looking curiously at the kat, who was  now standing up.

“No, I’m not. I’m a human, well, used to be one.That’s why I ache all  over.”

“You’re a mutant!?” asked Razor with astonishment in his voice.

“Ya!I mean…No!  I mean….” Arthi didn’t know what to think now. She  just put her paws in her face and shook it.

There was a little irony in this particular turning point in Arthi’s life. She always wished she was a cat, like her pet,  so that she would have plenty of enhanced abilities, she would be able to  live alone successfully, she wouldn’t have to worry about stupid things like  exams,she wouldn’t have to worry about the hair on her legs which she hated  to remove all the time and other reasons…..And now, she got her wish, well,  she was now sort of an evolved cat.

“What planet is this?” she asked the small one. He seemed to know the  situation better than the big one.

“Earth.” he replyed.

“Which year is this?” she asked. She scratched off her theory about  being on another planet.

“1997.” he answered.

“That can’t be!  I’m from 1997.”

“Listen kid.” said the small kat, “Why don’t we take you to some- one we know and maybe we can work things out.”

“NO!” shreiked Arthi,”Don’t leave me.” she suddenly felt very secure in  the two kats’ presence and she didn’t want to lose that security. Not in  this condition.

“It’s o.k. kid.” said the big one in a low voice that gave her more  comfort.

“Th..thanks.” muttered Arthi. She relaxed a bit.

“Give us a sec. o.k?” said the small one. Arthi nodded.

“What is going on here?!” whispered T-bone fiercly to Razor when they  were a little away from the black kat.

“I don’t know T-bone.” said Razor, “She seemes like she used to be  something else. Poor thing, she’s so scared even to see Chance and Jake.”

“O.K.,we just tell her our true identities and then tell her not to spill the beans.”

“I guess that’s the best thing to do.”

The two kats then turned back to the she kat who was holding her head  and seemed to be massaging it.

“Don’t worry,” said Razor to the she kat, “we’ll take you to our home  and try to get an explaination for all this er….what’s your name?”

“Arthi.” said the she-kat

“RT” repeated the caramel coloured cat.

“No, it’s….oh,never mind.”

“No,wait.What IS your name?”

“RT” she smiled at the cat and then held her cheeks.Boy!Did she hurt  all over.

“O.K.My name’s Razor and this is my bud T-bone.” the kat pointed his  thumb to his big companion, who waved his paw.

“Hi.” said RT ,waving back.

“C’mon.” said T-bone,”Let’s hit the road.”

“Rodger that, buddy. Comming,RT?” said Razor,turning to the black kat.

“Yup.” she said. RT was a really cool name, she thought. “Are you going  home on that?” she pointed at the black jet.

“You can either go with T-bone on the Turbokat or you can come with me  on the cyclotron.It’s a kind of motorcycle. So, what will it be?”

“I’ll take a ride on both of them later.” she said, eyeing the Turbokat. she always wanted a ride in a jet. It was her dream to ride in a jet. But she  was too tired now. “Can I come on my scooter?” she asked.

“That?” said Razor pointing to the white vehicle.

“You want to ride in your condition?”

“Ya, why not? I’m alright. Trust me.”

Razor couldn’t quite trust the kat to ride the vehicle after seeing her  crash into them. But the determination on her face made him change his mind  a little.

“Alright.Let’s check your scooter for any damage.”

RT immediately picked up her scooter and looked at it sadly. The sides  were badly damaged. They looked like masses of totally crushed metal. It  looked like it would never run.

R.T. sat across her bike and turned on the key which was still  in the ignition. Then she started her bike. It had a starting problem but on  the third trial it roared to life.

“Yes! It works.” she said triumphantly and with some relief. T-bone knelt  down and checked for any loose screws when RT stopped the engine.

“Is it O.K.?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine.I wonder how it managed to survive.”

“There’s nothing it can’t handle.” RT said that with pride. She was on that bike ever since she was taken home from the maternity ward.

Razor took out the cyclotron and started it. “T-bone, fly the jet to the  hanger.”

“Right buddy.” and T-bone got into the jet and took some time to warm  it up.

“Follow me, RT” said Razor ,turning to see RT take a turn on her bike  to check if it was O.K. He hoped against hope that the black kat knew what  she was doing.

“Right Razor.” she said.

The three of them took off, T-bone on the Turbokat, Razor on the cyclotron  and RT following close behind. Razor kept a watch on the black kat on his rear  view mirror. He had to admit it,the kid could really ride,and she has spunk  too. He tried to figure out how he would feel if he was taken away from his  friends and dumped into another dimention and had some other body. He couldn’t  imagine how this kid could take it.

RT was not thinking about her present predicament. She was just too tired. Her head throbbed and she could feel her temples hitting like mad. She decided-  first sleep, then problem. She then thought of something else- “T-bone and Razor.  Cool names.I wonder if all the other cats have nameslike that. Like ‘snowball’  or ‘whitie’ or ‘blacky’ or ‘shaggy’ or..” She thought of all the names of the  cats she had as pets for the rest of the trip.

As soon as the group reached the salvage yard Razor excused himself to go  and get somebody. RT looked around the salvage yard.

“It’s o.k.Not any prettier than the flat at least.” She then thought of her  home. The five-story appartment with all it’s lousy neighbours an garbage  filled scenery felt very inviting. Ah! No place like home….

She was then greeted by two cats in mechanic coveralls.

“Hi!” said the orange one who looked very familiar.

“I’m Chance and he’s Jake.” he pointed to his caramel coloured friend who  also looked terribly familiar.

“T-bone and Razor left you in our care”

Now she knew who the cats were.

“C’mon you guys,stop fooling.I’ve had a rough day.”

“O.K!O.K.!” said the big one.”You got us. Not bad,you recognised us.”

“Yeah,” said the small one,Razor naurally,”Now our real names are Chance  and Jake.” He pointed to the big one and himself simultaneously.

“You really thought that we would leave you, didja?” he smiled at her.  RT now knew she could trust them, both of them.She smiled back widely,and  then changed the subject quickly.

“You guys are just like Batman.” she said.

The two kats looked at her confused.

“What’s Batman?” asked Jake.(RT had now begun to identify them with  their real names).

“I’ll tell you later.” she said,”No biggie actually.”

“So.” she continued, “How did you get into the hero biz?”

The guys told her about their enforcer days and how Commander Feral  chucked them out of the force and how they became the Swatkats.

“And that’s why you have to keep yourself secret.” said Chance.

“Yeah.” added Jake. “The enforcers know you’re with the Swatkats but  when they find you with us it won’t be long before they put two and two  together and discover our true identities.”

“No prob.” replyed RT,”You can count on me.”

“Now for your problem.” said Chance.

“Oh,ya.Where I’m from.” said RT.

“And how you’re gonna get back.” added Chance.

“Sit down.” said Jake and motioned RT to the couch near the T.V.

The two plonked themselves on the couch and RT was  about to do the same when she suddenly sprang up and looked behind her. The two mechanics couldn’t help but chuckle quietly. RT pulled at her new tail. She didn’t notice it before.It was pretty long and fluffy. She set the  tail aside lightly and sat down gently in order not to crush it like before.

“So, shall we start?” asked Jake, still trying to supress the huge  grin on his face. Chance was still at the stage of controlling his laughter.  RT had never been so embarrased before but she managed to put it aside.

“I’m sorry.” apologised Jake, now forgetting to supress his grin, “It’s  just that you…”

“Looked silly,” finished RT, “Ya, right.Well,the tail was not my fault.”

“O.K. Forget it.Tell me about your Earth.”

RT pictured her planet as she had seen it in the encyclopedias, she had  the computer generated image of her planet in her head as she had seen it  on *Discovery Channel* .

“O.k., Earth is a planet with 3/4th water and 1/4th land,it is bulging  out on the Equator and flat at the poles,it’s the third planet in the solar  system…”

“Fourth planet you mean.” interrupted Chance,who now stopped chuckling  and started listening.

“No,third.” replyed RT.

“Are you sure?” asked Jake.

“Ya. I would be an idiot not to know that my planet is third from the  sun.”

The two kats looked at each other.

“I’ll show you a picture of our solar system. See if it has any  resemblance to yours.” said Jake and got up to get an encyclopedia which  he had on his book shelf. He was beginning to get a very vague idea  about where that kid was from.

RT turned her attention to her tail. It was twitching and then it  stopped. She frowned and the tail moved slightly up and stayed there, and  then suddenly dropped. RT held her head. It thumped heavily.

“You said you useta be somethin’ before.” said Chance, trying to make  conversation.

“Ya, I used t’ be a human,y’know Homo sapian?”

Chance shook his head. Obviously, he didn’t know Homo sapian.

“Give me a description.” he said with interest.

RT usually described humans as ‘ugly’ and that included herself. She  honesty thought that the mutation was for the better.Besides, she liked  cats.

“Well,they’re like hairless apes.” she started.

“What are apes?” asked Chance.

“Ummm…wait,I have a picture.” said RT and shuffled through her bag. She brought out a wallet and took out a picture of her and her family. She showed it to Chance.

It was a small family,just a hairless female, a slightly harier male, and two kids.They looked so cosy and loving. It reminded Chance  of his kittenhood days.

“Which one is you?” he asked.

“The girl,of course.” replyed RT.

“Which one is the girl?” he asked again.

“That one.” RT pointed to the smaller kid in the faded-with-age  picture. She then realised how similar she and her elder brother looked.

Jake came out with an old encyclopedia. He dusted it and blew the dirt off it.

“Where didja get that from? The Megakat Museum?” joked Chance.

“From my trunk.” said Jake ignoring Chance.He gave the book to RT  who sneezed and took it from him. He opened to the page about the solar  system for her. RT stared at the picture.That was a completely different  solar system.She went through the planets from the sun and came across  the 4th planet,slightly smaller than Neptune, called simply ‘Earth’. Nothing else was familiar about it. RT shook her head slowly.

“It’s not mine.” she said in a low voice.

“Then you’re from another planet.” said Jake in an I-got-it-all- figured-out tone. “Your from a planet which, by fluke, has the same name as ours.”

RT nodded. Yes, that made sense.

“I thought Pastie created only time portals,not dimentional ones.”  said Chance.

“Remember,we stopped him in the middle of a spell. That must have  caused some thing coupled with some freak of nature or something.”

“Can he do it again?” asked RT, catching on.

“I doubt it.” said Jake. “You probably need the right time, the right  place, and most importantly, Pastmaster’s watch.”

A sudden realisation came over Chance and Jake.RT sensed this was  not good.

“To go home, you need the Pastmaster’s watch or any other charm he  uses.” continued Jake,”And even that may not help you change back to  being er…whatever you were before.”

“She used to be a human,a hairless ape.” volunteered Chance.

“So I’m stuck here being a cat for the rest of my life,right?” R.T  concluded. There was a tone of disappointment in her voice which she couldn’t hide. Sure, Earth is a lousy place to live in but it was her home in every sense of the word.Everyone she loved was there although she had very few people to love anyway.But she knew that the people she loved , loved her just as much and they would miss her badly. She couldn’t bear that .The two cats seemed to notice the pain in her eyes, even with the glasses.

“I’m sorry….” began Jake but trailed off seeing the expression on  the kat’s face.

“It’s o.k. guys.” said R.T, breaking from her trance,”Don’t feel sorry.I needed a break from the exams anyway. And besides, I think I look cuter than  what I was before.” she smiled at the two kats who smiled back. R.T. was  beginning to like their grins. She then yawned hard, showing off the new set of fangs she grew.

“I need to go to bed guys. I’ve had a bad day.” she groaned, scratching  her messy ,short hair.

“No kidding. The shower’s over there.”  Chance pointed towards the  shower in the next room.

“I need something to wear.” said R.T.,”I’ve been wearing this darn  uniform all day and I feel sick.” She pulled at her *salwar kameez* to  let air in. Chance thought her clothes looked very wierd. The black kat  wore a long white shirt like blouse which looked brown from dirt, a pair of  baggy, navy blue pants and a piece of cloth oddly placed over her shoulders. Maybe it’s the fashion where she came from.

“You can wear my clothes.” said Jake, breaking his train of thought. “C’mon. I’ll give you my t-shirt and jeans.”

“Thanks.”

“Think I better give you a belt too.”

“Thanks.”

Jake smiled and went to his cupboard.

Scary Kat was on the boob-tube. Chance was laughing madly while hogging down chips while Jake shook his head when a kat leaned over  the top of the couch between them. The two of them looked up and the kat  looked down back at them .

R.T. now looked better. Her fur and hair were still damp but  she looked refreshed. She was wearing Jake’s T-shirt and jeans, both of  which were very loose.The T-shirt fell loosely from her neck up to her  knees but the jeans didn’t look so bad.The two of them noticed her fur. It shone so brilliantly in the light.

“So what’s the joke?” RT asked innocently.

The two motioned their young friend to sit down between them and  they moved leaving considerable space. RT sat down and leaned towards  the t.v.

“So,what’s this thing?” she asked eyeing the really wacky and jumpy  kat getting bombed every ten minutes.

“That’s Scary kat.” said Chance and he chuckled when the beautiful  she-kat opened the door and pushed a bomb into Scary kat’s arms. When the  bomb blew up R.T. couldn’t help but giggle hard. Jake stuck up his lower  lip in disgust.

“Huh! David Litterbin is much more refined if you ask me.”

“No one’s asking you, Jake.” replyed Chance, proud of himself for  giving a witty back answer.

“Wait a minute! David…Litterbin?!” asked R.T. looking at Jake  curiously. “He has a last name?” she asked after a minute.

“Yeah. All of us have last names.”said Chance,”What,you thought we  were named like pets?” he added jokingly and laughed.

“Actually er..ya.” she stammered..She then proceeded to explain her  pets,two cats, and how THEY were named.

R.T. learnt a lot about her newly found friends that night.That they  were kats and not cats and that went for her too,that their last names  were Furlong and Clawson, that they were inseparable partners.

The kats learnt sometings about their new friend too. That her real name was a long bunch of vowels that they could never pronounce.R.T. liked her new abbreviated name.She thought it was totally cool. ‘Amaravathi’ was a nice  name but ‘R.T.’ was easier.

The black teen-kat dozed off on Chance’s shoulder in the middle of the  David litterbin show. He placed her head gently on the couch after the show  while Jake pulled her legs onto the couch. They covered her with a sheet and  went to bed. Before they went to their rooms they looked at  their sleeping friend. They smiled at each other and went to bed.

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In the inky depths of the sewers of Megakat city a sinister shadow lurked  underneath the system of huge pipes carrying a vile of oddly coloured slime. “Thissss issss it,Megakat ccccccity!Within the week you will be on your  kneessssss before your new ruler!!!” The sewers echoed with a maniacal  laughter that seemed to fade in the darkness of the night…..

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Wait! It’s not over yet! Just a sort of cliffhanger to keep you on the  edge of your seats. That’s all I can type for now.See you next time.   Send me your comments and stuff to-  anish@giasmd01.vsnl.net.in I mean it, anything!

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