Skeletons in the Closet

Felina smiled as Chance pulled another box out of her storage closet and continued rummaging thought the box in front of her. Chance grunted as he carefully placed the box on the floor close by her and shook his head.

“What do you have in here, lead?” he asked, wiping his forehead.

Felina laughed and stood up, dusting off her jeans. “No but I do have allot of junk in these things,” she stated, stepping over a box. Her foot came down on a roller skate and it shot out from under her. Shouting in surprise, Felina fell down with her foot twisting around under her and she cried out in pain. Instantly, Chance was at her side and helping her up.

“Here, let me look at that,” he offered, setting her down on the couch. He eased her shoe and sock off, causing her to wince, and shook his head as her ankle began to swell. “I’m going to take you to the hospital where they can look at this,” he stated.

Felina glanced at Chance, worried. “What about my uncle?” she inquired as he scooped her up in his arms. “He’s going to wonder why you were in a position to bring me to a hospital.”

Chance smiled. “I’ll burn that bridge when we come to it,” he replied, strolling out the door.

A half hour later, Chance was waiting for the doctors to get done with Felina when a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see an angry Commander Feral standing there. Chance got to his feet and stared up at the tall Enforcer.

“Just what were you doing at my niece’s apartment?” growled Feral, his eyes flashing.

“Simple,” replied Chance, his own voice bordering on a growl. “Lieutenant Feral and Camilla forged a friendship after that incident with Delvana and Turmoil, so Cammy wrote me a letter to forward to the lieutenant since she didn’t know Lieutenant Feral’s address. I decided to deliver the letter in person.”

Before Commander Feral could say anything more, a nurse walked up, pushing Felina in a wheelchair. Felina’s right ankle was wrapped up and she had a pair of crutches in her arms.

“It’s just a minor sprain that should heal in six weeks,” stated the nurse. “But only if you stay off of it as much as possible.” She shot a glare at Feral and left the three kats.

Felina levered herself out of the wheelchair and stuck a crutch under each arm. “Well, I don’t know about you kats, but I’ve got boxes to go through,” she announced, glancing at Chance. “If you would be kind enough to take me home, Mr. Furlong.” Chance nodded and they left with Feral glaring after them. *************************************************************

Felina groaned as she glanced in another box that Chance had placed next to her on the floor. Since returning to her apartment, they had resumed the search through the boxes.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Chance finally asked as he wiped the dust from his paws.

“My uncle asked me to locate some plaques he earned as a younger Enforcer and now wants to hang on his walls,” she replied, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

Chance smiled and sat down next to her. “I think I’ll give my back a rest and help you look through some boxes,” he offered. Felina pointed to a box she hadn’t started on yet and he opened it, ready to begin his search. The first thing he saw was a black three-ringed binder with an upside down red triangle on a blue field. That’s the emblem Jake and I sewed on our SWAT Kat g-suits, he thought as he picked up the binder. “Hey Felina,” he called. “Ever see this before?”

Felina glanced up and frowned at the folder. “No,” she replied. “But isn’t that the emblem on you g-suit?” Chance nodded and a slip of paper fell out of the binder. He scooped it up and blinked in surprise. It was an article about the first appearance of the SWAT Kats glued on a piece of notebook paper with the words “Razor: Clawson, T-Bone: Furlong” written next to the article in Commander Feral’s handwriting.

“What’s wrong?” asked Felina, her frown deepening. Wordlessly, Chance handed her the article and watched as her brown eyes grew wide. “This means that my uncle knows about you,” she whispered, staring at Chance. “But how did he figure it out?”

Chance gazed at the binder in his paws. “Looks like we’ll just have to read this and find out,” he said in a soft voice.

Felina handed him back the article which he slipped between the covers. “We’ll have to do it later,” she replied. “We still have plaques to look for. Remember?” Chance nodded and they continued searching the boxes. After several dusty hours of searching, they discovered a grand total of three plaques and decided that the three were all they were going to find. They repacked the boxes with everything, except the plaques and binder, before Chance replaced them in the storage closet.

“Now let’s find out about this folder,” stated Chance, helping Felina stand up.

She frowned. “Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?” she asked. “I mean, should we?”

Chance looked in Felina’s eyes as they sat down on her couch. “I have to know if your uncle is going to come after Jake and I with arrest warrants Beautiful,” he replied. She nodded in understanding and he opened the binder. ************************************************************* (This part of the story is from Commander Feral’s journal.) January 11, 1985

I made Commander today and am the youngest Commander the Enforcers have had. I realize now that there are something’s that even an Enforcer Commander can’t do when it comes to stopping crime. An Enforcer is just a criminal with a badge if he starts breaking laws in the name of Justice. I hate to admit it but on several occasions, my paws will be tied by the very laws I swore to uphold. I almost wonder if a pair of vigilantes could make more headway against the crime in Megakat City. I’ve seen some good Enforcers seek a refuge in a bottle to escape from the crimes they wanted to prevent but couldn’t. Sometimes I’m tempted to join them. February 3, 1985

A new criminal has appeared. He calls himself Dr. Viper and looks like a cross between a kat and a lizard. Obviously, the victim of a lab accident that not only mutated his body, but warped his mind. He has announced his desire to turn Megakat City into Megaswamp City. My Enforcers were able to stop him this time, but will we be able to stop him again? He managed to put ten officers in the hospital with various wounds before he went down. February 7, 1985

Viper’s escaped and went underground. He critically wounded the guards that were stationed near his cell and I only hope they pull through. One’s a family kat and I don’t want to tell a kitten that their father’s not coming home to them because of a nutcase. February 20, 1985

Strange imp-like creatures have been seen across Megakat City stealing things, mainly scientific equipment or weapons, before they would vanish. I’m beginning to get the feeling that another villain is starting to mount his forces before he plays his hand. March 1, 1985

The villain has finally appeared and he calls himself Dark Kat. He seems to be a type of criminal mastermind and the imp creatures are called creeplings. Meyers discovered that they’re poisonous when one bit him while he was trying to get to Dark Kat. He died two hours later. I promised his wife that I would do everything in my power to bring Dark Kat to justice and felt like a heel because we both knew that bringing that fiend in would take a miracle. March 19, 1985

Just what this city doesn’t need, two more criminals. This time it’s a husband and wife gangster team named Max and Molly Mange. They argue between themselves but manage to pull off a heist and get away clean. I don’t think the Enforcers could stop these villains if they decided to team up. April 13, 1985

Two new graduates from the Academy have caught my eye; pilot Chance Furlong and weapon’s expert Jake Clawson. Those two are a blessing in disguise. Furlong can out fly any pilot on the squad with the exception of myself and Clawson could hit a dime a mile off. They’ll climb though the ranks fast if I have anything to say about it. August 20, 1985

Those two hot-shots have really done it this time! We were chasing Dark Kat in his new jet and they wouldn’t back off to give me a clean shot at him. Clawson claimed to have weapon’s lock on Dark Kat but none of my instruments showed a lock. When I tried to get around their jet, Furlong swiped his wing at my jet, but only succeeded in damaging his craft. When I had regained control of my jet, Dark Kat had vanished, leaving only those two to deal with. Their jet had crashed into the new Enforcer building, severely damaging the roof pad. They tried to quite the force but I told them that they were going to repay the city for the damage to the building out of their paychecks. Then I shipped them off to Megakat City Junk Yard where they’ll work the debt off. September 15, 1985

Clawson and Furlong have re-opened the garage at the Junkyard to pull in some extra cash. They even repaired an old tow truck out of parts that they found around the yard. They’ve even managed to straighten up the yard some. Unfortunately for them, it will be a long time before they can leave the yard for good. November 11, 1985

Two vigilantes, calling themselves the SWAT Kats, appeared today while the Enforcers were trying to take down Viper. He was escaping in a stolen Enforcer jet when suddenly, this black and red jet appeared and disabled Viper’s jet with some type of fancy missile. Once both jets were on the ground, the mystery jet’s canopy popped open to reveal two kats with red and blue g-suits and masks on. On one paw was a strange glove that had what looked like miniature rocket launchers on the back of it. There was something familiar about the way they leaped out of the jet and stood over Viper, waiting for a group of Enforcers to take Viper away. It wasn’t until the taller one, T-Bone, tossed the Deputy Mayor a communicator and told her to call them when trouble showed up, that I recognized the voice as Furlong’s. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any proof that Clawson and Furlong were Razor and T-Bone except my word. December 6, 1985

After almost a month with the SWAT Kats helping the Enforcers, none of the villains have been able to get very far in their plans, no matter what those plans are. I realize now that those two can do allot more for the city as vigilantes than as Enforcers. They won’t have any trouble from me in the way of a warrant, but I can’t publicly support them or my position as Commander could be brought into question. April 14, 1987

I’m proud to say that my niece, Felina is the first she-kat Enforcer to graduate from the Academy. I don’t know why more she-kats haven’t joined the ranks of the Enforcers, but Felina is a welcomed addition. I’ve been keeping an eye on the yard and have noticed that about once a week, Furlong and Clawson take the Turbokat out to a local canyon. One day I was curious about where they keep their jet and when they went out to fly through the canyon, I did a little bit of snooping on my own. That’s when I discovered the hatchway that lead into the old hanger. Those two have really fixed up the place to include a ramp that leads to the surface and a hidden entrance, not to mention the raisable platform where the Turbokat must set. June 5, 1987

One of Mayor Manx’s brainstorms backfired today in the form of Viper. Manx wants to lease his new Megakat Tower to overseas investors but Viper took control of the building, determined to use it to release spores over the city. Clawson managed to get in and distract Viper while Furlong grabbed some rocket coolant to dump on the vines. Miss Briggs was a help in taking Clawson to where Viper was. Needless to say, Manx wasn’t happy about the building. July 10, 1987

Max and Molly Mange escaped from Alkat-Traz and have reappeared as robots. They’ve sworn vengeance against everyone who stopped them the first time, including Manx who denied them parole. Turns out Miss Briggs was the one who did that deed and they tried to kill her. It makes me glad that we have a pair of vigilantes on our side. July 27, 1987

The Metallikats are at it again. They managed to escape from Professor Isaac Hackle who was going to reprogram them into a chauffeur and housemaid. After escaping from Hackle, they went to the Junkyard where they must have discovered the exit ramp for the Turbokat because they somehow discovered that Clawson and Furlong are Razor and T-Bone. Later when both the efforts of the SWAT Kats and the Enforcers brought them down, they tried to use that information as a bargaining chip. Instead of accepting their proposition, I used another of Hackle’s inventions to deactivate them. Miss Briggs was surprised that I wouldn’t try to learn who the SWAT Kats were, but I stated that I don’t deal with scum and left it at that. The look on her face was priceless. August 20, 1987

Dark Kat has made an appearance along with Hard Drive who stole the blueprints to several new weapons and inventions. Then they lured Clawson and Furlong into an abandoned factory while they took the Turbokat out to commit their crimes in the guise of Clawson and Furlong. The Enforcers finally found them at the factory and I went to arrest them like it was my duty when they grabbed Miss Briggs to hold as a ‘hostage’ while they escaped. Later, they not only managed to return the stolen money but Hard Drive as well. September 8, 1987

Felina’s finally made ‘lieutenant’ which was more her hard work than the Feral name, I’m proud to say. She’s truly made me proud. Now if I can only get rid of that power-hungry Steele. I made the mistake of putting him in charge when I snuck aboard Dark Kat’s ship. I’m glad that Furlong and Clawson were following me, because Dark Kat would have succeeded this time thanks to Steele’s pig-headedness. Dark Kat succeeded in building a bomb to use on Enforcer HQ, but Clawson managed to diffuse it before it landed on HQ. October 15, 1987

Talk about strange. There was this criminal who called herself Turmoil. She had a vertigo ray with an all she-kat crew manning a hovercraft and she demanded payment or she wouldn’t let us use the skies. The Enforcers were unable to stop her, but Furlong flew rings around her pilots. It must have impressed her, because she offered him command of her squadrons. He pretended to agree but managed to rig her airship with explosives and Clawson disabled the vertigo ray. Together, they managed to deliver Turmoil and her crew to the Enforcers. November 15, 1987

It’s finally happened; Dr. Viper, Dark Kat and the Metallikats have joined forces and kidnapped Manx and Miss Briggs. Clawson and Furlong discovered this out before I did when they not only fought Viper and the creeplings, but the Metallikats as well. The rest of us found out about the alliance when the criminals broadcasted their demands with proof of their hostages. Clawson and Furlong went out to help Miss Briggs and Manx and I tagged along disguised as a fishing kat. When I saw the Turbokat explode, I thought those two hot-shots had finally bought it until I noticed a dark shadow moving under the water and realized that they were in a sub. While they kept the villains busy, I snuck into the factory and dropped the force field that held the now four prisoners, before I began firing on the villains. Miss Briggs was a help in the fight while Manx cowered behind any available cover. We escaped in the SWAT Kats’ sub just as the factory blew. Somehow I don’t think that Viper, Dark Kat or the Metallikats are gone. Not by a long shot. March 10, 1989

Felina was rather disgusted at the idea of showing up at the Ball in a dress instead of her uniform. Turned out it was a blessing in disguise when Viper crashed the party and sent Felina out with his random demands because he didn’t recognize her as an Enforcer. She teamed up with the SWAT Kats and they managed to defeat Viper. Today, Felina was happy with a spring in her step that I didn’t see last night. One of the cleaning kats wondered if she injured herself because one of the towels in her apartment was stained with blood. I guess Furlong was injured during the fight and Felina took him back to her apartment to tend to his injury. At least he managed to cheer her up. April 19, 1989

The Pastmaster showed up and whisked The SWAT Kats, Miss Briggs, Felina and myself into the past where we were separated in time. Miss Briggs was the Pastmaster’s prisoner in the Dark Ages; The SWAT Kats were stuck in the Ice Age; and Felina and I were in a prehistoric jungle. Then we began jumping back and forth through time, basically switching partners. That was the first time I had been in the Turbokat and it is a very nice jet. Clawson and Furlong did a great job constructing it. When we finally managed to get everyone together, thanks to Miss Briggs, she created a portal and all of us went home to the present. June 7, 1987

Felina and Furlong broke up a smuggling ring tonight with Clawson and my help. It’s a good thing that we managed to trail them because Leo Konclyn was threatening to drug and rape Felina. Furlong broke his ropes and grabbed Konclyn around the neck. If Clawson and Felina hadn’t been there, Furlong probably would have killed Konclyn. He must really care for Felina and I know if Furlong ever breaks her heart or mistreats her, there will be no place on this planet that he can hide from me. That’s a promise. *************************************************************

Chance glanced up as he closed the folder. In among the entries were schematics for their various weapons, the Turbokat, and articles about their exploits. All the articles had comments wrote beside them, either criticism or praise.

“Funny. I always thought Feral hated us so much, it was a religion for him,” muttered Chance with a shake of his head. “Now we find something like this and it sheds a whole new light on his charming personality.”

Felina nodded. “He must have suspected about us since the ball,” she replied, gazing out of her windows. The sun was setting behind the tall skyscrapers of Megakat City and painting the sky with reds and oranges. “But what are we going to do about this book?” she inquired “We can’t leave it lying around, because if my place was ever robbed, the villains of this city would pay allot to get their hands on your secrets.”

Chance shrugged. “Then let’s return it,” he suggested. “It is Feral’s property anyway.” He held it out to her. “I’ll let you do the honors.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Hot Shot,” she whispered, kissing him as she took the folder from his paws.

Chance glanced at his watch. “I hate to do this, Beautiful,” he apologized. “But I have to get going. We’re testing a new missile that Jake’s came up with in the morning and he won’t appreciate it if I run the Turbokat into a canyon wall.” He stood up and kissed her one last time. “I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon and you can tell me everything that happened between you and your uncle. Deal?”

“Only if you bring dinner,” she retorted. “Otherwise, I might not let you in.” Chance laughed and left with a backwards wave.

********************************************

Feral looked up in surprise as Felina hobbled into his office with a crutch under one arm and a binder under the other.

“I thought the doctor told you to stay off of your ankle as much as possible, Lieutenant,” he growled good-naturedly.

Felina smiled and laid the binder on his desk “I found this along with your plaques in those boxes,” she explained. “This belongs to you and is too important to four kats for it to be lying around my apartment. I thought it would be better if you kept it somewhere safe.”

Feral opened the binder and a small smile crossed his face when he recognized the entries. Then he frowned. “Who’s the fourth kat?” he asked.

She smiled over her shoulder as she hobbled for the door. “Me,” she stated, before leaving her stunned uncle in his office.

The End