Viper’s At It Again

Having been in Megakat City before, the Biker Mice were no strangers to the SWAT Kats or to Commander Feral, or even Miss Briggs. The same was true for the SWAT Kats in the case of being in Wildcat City, Kansas, USA, home of Leo the Patriotic Lion and current home of the Biker Mice (because Lawrence Limburger was no longer using Chicago as a front but instead Wildcat City; it was the biggest mistake of his life). Since the two big metropolitan wonders were neighbors, humans began to populate Megakat City for the first time, although having to adjust to the majority of cats. The cats did not mind, however; thanks to the speeches and acts of Leo the Patriotic Lion, humans were welcomed as close friends and not enemies in the traditional thought of man fighting beast.

In this case, the Biker Mice were in Megakat City and were meeting Dark Kat for the first time.

“So, you used to be this town’s public enemy number one?” Throttle put in.

“Yes, that was me,” said Dark Kat. “No longer am I a criminal now, but on those occasions where Commander Feral needs expertise, he turns to me.”

“When solving the hardest crimes, hire the smartest criminal,” Feral added. “That’s my policy, and he’s proven to be one heck of a help when we needed him.”

“Neat,” said Vinnie. “Wish we could do the same with Limburger.”

“Wouldn’t that jeopardize his reputation?” Dark Kat asked, remembering Lord Camembert. “He wants to do his race proud, I recall, by destroying this planet.”

“Oh, he’s no longer trying to impress his boss,” Modo replied, shaking his head. “Lord Camembert died in the electric chair after being captured by an intergalactic police force. So, Limburger’s on his own. It still doesn’t stop us from frying his hide every time he strikes, and that’s always fun to do.”

“I see,” said Dark Kat. “Well, here’s my advice to you mice: the current public enemy number one is Dr. Viper, the one that’s half-cat and half-snake. He likes to use mutants to turn innocent civilians into mutants. No matter who you are, you’ll turn into a mutant if you aren’t careful. So, if your friend Stoker is now a superhero, which only adds to the threat of him turning into one.”

“We’ll remember that,” Throttle promised.

Later that night, Dr. Viper returned with his mutant army to parade around Megakat City. He used his traditional methods of mutant attacks, but he did not flood Megakat City like he tried once before. Instead, he just let his mutants attack. A typical attack might have consisted of a mutant popping out of thin air in the same way a slasher movie villain might have popped out on the damsel. Another typical attack involved the mutant causing roadblocks and leaving the Enforcers no choice but to retreat, as fighting back would have been in vain. While the Biker Mice were prepared for these attacks at first, Rimfire wasn’t handling the job so well initially. Eventually, he got used to it, though, and with his trademark daredevil moves, the mutants didn’t stand a chance.

Since this was a night job, Stoker used his Nightshift identity instead of becoming Super Stoker (although he could have done so, he usually did his superhero duties in the daytime). He had one of his bats he kept with him in his secret lab with him, which he kept safe from the mutants. Nevertheless, it seemed that for every mutant he took out, four more appeared to continue the battle.

“This is a tough one, Einstein,” he said. “It’s almost like trying to cut through quicksand. There’s just too many of them.” He tried other evasive maneuvers but was having no success.

In the Turbokat, the SWAT Kats also helped with taking out some of the mutants, many of which were clashing with innocent civilian cats trying to dive for cover. A few of them that were brave enough to fight back were able to get them off in time for Razor’s spider missiles to apprehend them. T-Bone made sure the Turbokat did not get any mutants on it, based on the previous experience of his own where he once turned into a mutant frog (but with Razor’s help came back to normal, and he eventually saved Razor from drowning).

Felina and her uncle piloted their own jets while Lenny Ringtail (now a police detective for the Enforcers) and Hard Drive (his assistant) flew a helicopter around on patrol for extra mutants. The same concept existed for them as it did for Stoker.

“Seems to me we’re doing a lot of fighting and getting nowhere fast,” Hard Drive commented. “I wonder if there’s a multiplier effect going on here? Remember the last time Viper attacked? He used a master creature in the same way all those Aparoids existed thanks to the Queen. Thank heavens the Star Fox team—with the Star Wolf team’s help—were able to take her out and destroy all Aparoids.”

“But, that took a chain reaction program invented by Beltino Toad,” Lenny replied. “In this case, we shall have to destroy the mutant master creature another way. Oh, wait a minute. Look at that.” His last remark was directed towards the sight where Viper was using the stolen Katalyst X-63 from Megakat Biochemical Labs to make himself grow bigger—or so he thought. The others caught sight of it, too.

“Isn’t he supposed to grow with that?” Modo asked.

“Yes,” said Feral, “but he’s not. He’s shrinking! We got him now!”

T-Bone flew the Turbokat towards the ground, and Throttle picked up the angry Viper, who struggled to get free of Throttle’s grasp. The esteemed commander of the Biker Mice tossed the disgruntled villain towards the net from Razor’s missile, which apprehended him. T-Bone flew the Turbokat towards Enforcer H.Q., but Viper managed to escape. When he hit the ground, he grew back to normal size, but who else should he be surprised to find but Dark Kat! (Note that Dark Kat was assisting Feral with a side case irrelevant to this case, which they solved in no time flat.)

“So, we meet again!” Dark Kat sneered.

“How dare you!” Viper hissed. “How dare you turn good! You’re my ally!”

“Not anymore!” Dark Kat replied. “For once, I am taking you to prison and your reward to the heavens!” This was the purple overlord’s way of threatening Viper’s life, but Viper had no idea what that meant. Dark Kat marched him back to solitary confinement where he belonged.

The Biker Mice took some time to clarify to Feral in the meantime exactly what he should expect from Lawrence Limburger when he asked.

“And, note that he’s a very wordy villain,” Modo concluded. “His vocabulary is too big for his head.”

“Often Karbunkle hasn’t got a clue what he’s talking about,” Throttle added. “It’s a bit funny to watch.”

“I see,” said Feral. “I’ll remember that next time I encounter him. In the meantime, thanks for your help. We are now approaching the master creature that Viper created, and to tell you the truth, he’s tried this before. He’s losing it. Vinnie, one of your flares ought to take him out. The SWAT Kats’ laser fire is proving to be useless against him. If he keeps this up, he may create an antibody.”

“Why?” asked Stoker.

“It is the same as when bugs build up resistance to pesticide over time.”

“Oh, all right.”

Vinnie took a flare and threw it at the master mutant creature, laughing his signature laugh of triumph all the way. The creature caught on fire and disintegrated into ashes. An Enforcer commando cleaned up the mess with his own artillery as Dark Kat watched his allies return to base.

“I see you have conquered the master,” he said.

“Yeah, we did,” said Razor. “We couldn’t have done it without the Biker Mice From Mars, though.”

“Glad to help,” Throttle smiled.

“Next time you see old stink fish around here,” Stoker added, “just give us a call.”

“Will do,” said T-Bone.

“Indeed,” Feral replied. “And, thanks for the tip about Limburger. He sounds like a mean one.”

THE END