OK, I don’t own the Swat Kats characters or their weapons or vehicles, because if I did I would never ever cancel that beautiful show. Anyway, this is my version of one the unfinished episodes of the series that I’m going to write and post here, and on FanFiction. Net.   

------------------------------------------------------------------------

SWAT Kats: Cold War

Chapter 1: An escaped convict


It was a dark and rainy Friday night, a night so dark and so rainy that the inhabitants of MegaKat City thought that they’d never seen a worse night. But that didn’t stop Commander Ulysses Feral and his niece, Lt. Felina Feral from flying into Alkatraz Prison Island on a very important mission.

It had been a rough week with the attack of Dr. Viper’s mutated slime that made insects grow until they were the size of ten story buildings. Fortunately, the Swat Kats helped the Enforcers defeat him, although he did manage to escape in the confusion. That lousy psycho would never let anyone capture him and that just made Commander Feral feel angrier with himself. It annoyed him that his Enforcers were never able to stop the most vicious criminals in the city without the help of the Swat Kats (whom he disliked with a passion).

As for Lt. Feral, the vigilante duo had saved her life a couple of times so she didn’t mind sharing the sky with T-Bone and Razor.

Finally, through the torrential rains, they spot Alkatraz Island, which looked like a huge dark spot in the sea. The waves battered and foamed against the sea wall. The island was considered by many, especially the Enforcers, as the perfect prison. There was no chance of any convicts escaping, but that changed when Mac and Molly Mange, a.k.a. The Metallikats, managed to get away, although they did die trying it, only their minds had survived the attempt.

The wind was blowing hard causing Felina some difficulties in landing the chopper, but after a short struggle, she finally managed to land.  As they got out of the chopper, the warden was on the landing platform waiting for them. His name was William Jagster. He was in his fifties, with grey fur, almost no hair, a little chubby and his orange eyes looked like pieces of amber. He was dressed in a black suit and carried an umbrella to protect him from the rain.

“Commander Feral... Lieutenant... I’ve been expecting you, but I have to say, I didn’t expect you to try and  face a storm like this one just to make an inspection of our facilities…that certainly took a lot of courage,” - Jagster said while he conducted them to a door that led inside.

“A storm is nothing compared to what we face in MegaKat City everyday of the week, Warden Jagster.” - Feral dismissed the concern while he covered his face with his arms to keep the rain off.

“Actually, Warden Jagster, we’re not here to inspect the facilities. We’re here to talk with one of your prisoners.” - Felina informed him as they entered the building.

The entry room was quite small and had only a few pieces of furniture, a table with a small television, that was off and two chairs. There was very little illumination because the lamp that provided light was quite old and didn’t have enough power to illuminate the entire room, still, there was enough light for them to see each other.

Feral took off his coat and put it on one of the chairs to dry, while his niece took off her helmet revealing that her beautiful and silky black hair was still dry.

“Oh well then... which prisoner do you wish to speak with... perhaps Turmoil?... She’s been giving us a few problems. She’s tried to escape at least two times this month. We had to put her in a special cell in order to prevent her from trying again.” - He said shaking his head in annoyance.

“No, warden, we’re here to talk to Rex Shard.” - Lt. Feral told him firmly.

“R-R-Rex Shard?! But why do you wish to speak with him?” - The warden stuttered in surprise.

“We have an important message for him from Deputy Mayor Briggs. Could you show us where he is? We were hoping to take care of this as quickly as possible.” - Commander Feral said gruffly, showing an envelope signed by Deputy Mayor Briggs and addressed to Shard.

“Certainly, follow me, please.” - Warden Jagster said still curious.

The corridors were only a little better illuminated than the room they had left, but it was still very dark and spooky. In the cells, the malevolent eyes of the convicts watched carefully as the visitors went pass their cells. Many of the convicts had been arrested personally by Commander Feral and held a personal grudge against him. When they saw him, they started to yell every type of name they could remember to criticize and to insult him, but Feral ignored them.

“Rex Shard gave us a few problems when he was transferred from MegaKat Maximum Security Prison. That was a terrible thing he’d done crystallizing MegaKat Springs, MegaKat Dam and the prison itself. He arrived here in a very unstable mental condition, you know. But after spending the last few months here and receiving therapy, he’s become less dangerous, more stable and disciplined. He was making such good progress that we recently transferred him to the minimum security hall. He’s become a model prisoner. I do think that the programs we use here at Alkatraz Island are the best at helping criminals face their problems with fitting in with society and to assist them in finding more constructive ways to curb their anger against the system.” - The warden said proudly.

“Well, he’s not going to be happy with our visit because the news we have for him isn’t good.” - Feral said with a sarcastic smile. “If I were you warden, I’d put him back in the maximum section. You can’t trust Rex Shard. If you do, he’ll stab you in the back as soon as he can.” - He said grimly.

Finally, they arrive at Shard’s cell. He was dressed in an orange prison suit and was laying on his bed looking at the ceiling, when he saw he had company. He looked to see who his visitors were, since he never received any visits. He was surprised to see Feral and his niece, along with the prison warden, who was constantly bugging him. He hated him, but he knew that if he acted like he was the warden’s pet, he would have more luxuries than the other convicts.

“Well, if it isn’t Commander Feral and Lt. Feral… I thought I was never going to see you again? Tell me, do you still remember the way I humiliated you and your men when I transformed into that crystal colossus? I bet that you still hate me for and because those SWAT “Gnats” were the ones who stopped me!” - Shard said, a smile of derision on his face, as he got up from his bed to face them.

“I’m not here to discuss what you did in the past, Shard. In the end I was the one who won, and you were caught. And it doesn’t matter to me that I wasn’t the one who captured you because the result is the same......you’re here.” - Feral said flatly. - “Now, I’m here to give you this… it’s a letter from the Deputy Mayor to you. I presume that you were expecting its arrival…” - The Commander held up the letter.

Shard snatched it from the Commander’s paw and opened it. Shard had been expecting it for almost a month. But when he finished reading it, he ripped it into pieces and said:

“What does this mean?!” - He snarled in the Commander’s face.

“It means, Shard, that Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs have denied your parole. And personally, I don’t even understand why you had the nerve to request it of them after what you did.  You’ll never get out of your sentence. You’ll spend the rest of your nine lives here.” -  Feral said coldly.

“They can’t do this to me! What about my good behaviour... all the things I’ve accomplished through the prison programs?...I’ve been a good kat since I was transferred here!” - He snarled in fury.

“Shard… that’s not good enough to gain you forgiveness from the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor for what you’ve done. Let me refresh your memory, you tried to kill them, the guards, the warden, who ended up dying anyway when his crystalline body was broken, not to mention the havoc you caused when you destroyed MegaKat Maximum Security Prison, and tried to crystallize MegaKat City. Those things you say you’ve accomplished in this place are nothing compared to the toll of damages your rampage caused.” - Felina answered before her uncle could. Although she only graduated from the Enforcer Academy after that incident, she knew what had happened.

“Don’t you give me that crap, Lieutenant Feral! You can’t possibly know what I felt when I was transformed into that crystal maniac.  I lost control over my body!  If it wasn’t for those Swat “Gnats”, I would have destroyed MegaKat City. I wasn’t responsible!  Who do they think they are to deny me my only chance to get out of here and show katkind that I’m a changed kat?” - Shard pleaded; trying to convince her he was sincere, hoping she would feel sorry for him and his situation.

“Don’t try to influence my niece, Shard. I’ve seen your psychological tests and they show you were quite lucid when you were transformed so stop wasting everyone’s time by trying to get us to sympathize with you and convince us that you are a good kat now and that you’re sorry for what you’ve done. You’re a career criminal ......your kind never change.” - Feral snapped angrily.

“I’ll show you… I’ll have my revenge..... I’m going to kill you two..... Kill Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs for denying my parole and then I’ll destroy those Swat Kats!” - Shard threatened them hotly.

He slammed himself against the cell door and was surprised when it fell forward knocking the warden, Feral and Felina to the ground under it. Only stunned a moment, he leaped over them and went running like a wild animal through the corridor for the outside.

Feral shoved the door off them. The warden activated the prison alarm to warn the guards that there was a convict on the loose while both Commander and Lt. Feral pulled out their guns and started to pursue Rex Shard.

Shard mowed down anyone who got in his way and not even the shots fired from the Enforcers weapons slowed him down. No one seemed able to nail him. He knew the door to the guards’ house was always unlocked, so he knew that if there was a way to get out of here that was the way.

He reached the guard house door, knocking the guard there hard to the ground. He ran in the pouring rain to the closest cliff. He might lose his life doing this, but he was not going back into his cell... ever. He preferred dying than spending his nine lives in jail. When he got near the cliff, however, he began to have second thoughts about that idea as he stared down at the churning water and high waves but when he saw the guards and both Enforcers charging toward him with their guns pointing at his head, he knew there wasn’t another option. He poised to jump.

“Give up, Shard, you’re surrounded… there’s no where else to go! It’s death that way!” - Feral shouted over the raging sound of the sea and rain.

“Never! I’m not going back to the slammer, Commander. I prefer to take my chances and jump into the water. Just remember, that if I survive, you’ll hear about me again, and sooner than you think!” - Shard yelled as he jumped into the cold icy water of MegaKat Bay.

The waves and pouring rain didn’t allow anyone to see where he had landed. Both Feral and his niece tried to see anything on the rocks or floating in the water, but visibility was impossible. They really didn’t think he’d survived the drop though because of the pointy rocks and the intensely cold water.

Feral and Felina walked back into the building. The warden was waiting just inside the door. “Where is Shard, Commander?” - He asked anxiously.

“He jumped! There’s no way to tell if he’s dead on the rocks or in the water. It’s just too dark and rainy to see. We’ll have to wait till dawn to check.” - Feral growled angrily. - “That’s why you can never trust a convict like Shard, Warden Jagster. If he sees a way to get out of the slammer, he will try anything to accomplish it. Now because of your incompetence, my Enforcers and I will have to clean up your mess, and make sure that Rex Shard is dead.” He snapped at the kat. He turned away from the now shaking tom and looked at his niece.

“Felina, give me your radio and follow me, we’ve got work to do!” - Feral barked as he went back outside and headed for their chopper.

“This is Feral, bring me chopper back up, and tell all Enforcers that the licenses have been cancelled, and that they have to report into HQ in 30 minutes tops! No one is going to sleep tonight, until we find Rex Shard’s dead body! Over and out!”

“This is Feral, have a squadron of choppers put on standby.  As soon as its dawn, I want the area around the south side of Alkatraz Prison searched thoroughly for the escaped prisoner, Rex Shard! Do you copy?!” - Feral shouted.  Seconds later he received an acknowledgment. He and Felina climbed aboard and he gave her the signal to take off as he put on his helmet. He clicked his com on and gave her an order, “Take us back to Enforcer Headquarters.”

“Yes, uncle!” - She answered briskly taking the chopper into the dark, wet sky.