Hot Spot
By: TT Snim
Part one
Hard Night
Chapter one
Metal Mayhem
Two figures stood in the smoke filled room, cold red eyes glaring and glowing. The room was not large, but it had been well fortified. Now, with a gaping hole in the west wall, the room stood exposed. It's contents, scientific equipment of every kind, lay like open platers at a buffet.
One of the figures, the shorter one, stepped forward and picked up a small box. "You sure this is the place?"
The taller one stepped forward, hands perched on shining hips. "Yeah I'm sure! What do ya' take me for? Stupid?"
"Some times." The shorter one replied. "What IS this junk any way?"
"Stuff for mining, genius." The smoke was clearing now, their bodies showing more clearly. They were metallic, and menacing. They were the Metalicats.
"Wonderful, Mol, what do we need this for? We ain't going to go DIG diamonds our selves are we?" Mac asked, disgusted.
She snorted. "This stuff can drill a hole through two feet of solid Agrisite in half a second."
"So?" Mac asked as he tossed the box back behind him self.
"So the Mega Memorial Bank just happened to have walls two feet thick! AND they are made of agrisite!"
Mac stood, for a moment, just staring at her. "Well why didn't you say so before?"
"Cuz ya' didn't ask!"
The shorter one grumbled some thing foul and picked up another object, this time inspecting it with a keen red glare. "So what do ya think THIS is?"
"How should I know? DO I LOOK like I'm a scientist?"
He opened his mouth. . .
"Answer that and I'll blast you one."
. . . and then he closed it back up.
Molly, satisfied with her metallic mate, turned from him and looked over the now dust covered shelves. "I'm looking for a drill they was talking about on the news. It's big and long and silver."
"You just described your self, toots." Mac quipped.
She turned and gave him a withering look. "Kats to the clouds! Why did I mary you?"
"Cuz I said yes." He retorted. "And I regret that too."
"Awe shut up and help me look."
"All right all right!" He tossed the object he was holding aside and turned to another set of shelves. For several minutes they rummaged through the various items and tools. Some they set aside to take with them, some they tossed haphazardly aside, finding it of no value. The dust had long sense settled and the smoke dissipated when Molly finally found what she was searching for. She picked up the three foot long hand held drill and, as well as she could with a fully metallic face, she smiled.
"Hay Mac, here it is!" She held it above her head and from the other side of the room Mac turned to look.
"Looks like we struck it rich!" He walked over, shoving tables and things out of his way as he did so. Under one arm was a basketball sized sphere with a dozen or so little holes in it. Other than the tiny holes it was solid and smooth. There was no interface that they could see.
Molly eyed it slowly as she lowered the drill. "What have ya' got there? Looks familiar."
Mac held it up along with the manual he had discovered with it. "Some thing Hackle made. Supposed to be for Volcano exploration or some thing."
"Oh yeah, right. I remember. Purest Agrisite device in the world. Hardest metallic object on the planet. Remote controlled soccer-ball thing."
Mack held it up to the moon light where it glittered for a moment. "Supposedly it's got little tentacle things that shoot out and bore in to rock. Supposed to be able to go through any thing like a hot knife through butter."
"We taking it then?" She asked as she slung the drill's strap over her shoulder.
"You HAVE to ask?"
"Well, you found it and I ain't carrying it!"
"Well I'm driving so you HAVE to carry it!" He tossed it to her.
She snatched it out of the air and promptly fell over, the sphere being many pound more than it looked. "MAC!" She spat. "Warn me when you throw some thing this heavy!"
He looked at her for a moment, then up at the car. "Quit your whining. You ain't dented."
She glared and stood. "You want to get a dent of yer own?" She picked the drill and the sphere up. "Cuz I'll chuck this thing at you. . ."
"Shhh." He lifted a finger to his nose. "I hear some thing."
"What do ya' here?"
"SHHH!" He turned and squinted towards the city. It's towers were phantoms in the dark, hundreds of little glowing eyes, like stars, squinted back at him. "Jets."
Molly drew near to him, her hands clutching the sphere and drill tightly. "Swat Kats?"
"Maybe, I can't tell. Get in the car, Mol, we gots ta' get out a' here."
She nodded, not questioning him, and started to run. The sphere however was slowing her down. While she needed no air for her efforts she felt like panting. "Mac, this thing weights a ton!"
He stopped, having made it much further than her, and lifted his hands. "Toss it."
"What?"
"I said TOSS it!"
She gave him a blank look then glanced down at the object in her hands. With a quick nod she crouched down, coiling, and then sprung up, thrusting the device straight towards Mac. He too crouched, but his body was loose. The sphere slammed in to his hands and, like a spring, he coiled in on him self where he froze for a moment, sliding back. As soon as the momentum dissipated he turned and, like a miniature quarter back, sprinted towards the car. Molly blinked some what surprised, then after a small shake of her head, darted off after him.
Together they reached the car, and together the climbed in. With a grunt Mac shoved the device in to Molly's lap and started the engine. "Nice toss toots." He glanced in to the rear view mirror and noticed several blue flecks of light in the distance.
She buckled up and looked over at him, taken back sightly. "Uh, nice catch."
He nodded, once, and slammed his foot down on the gas. Thrust back in to her seat Molly yelped. She glared. "Your driving still stinks!"
"Yeah well, sue me."
She glanced in to her rear view mirror. "Uh, look, the Enforcers have company."
He glanced back as well and noticed the faster and larger form of the Turbo Kat racing ahead of the militant flock. "Black sheep of the family." He grunted.
Molly, shifting the large sphere in her lap again, snatched up the manual and started to thumb through it. "Maybe I can toss this thing at the jet."
"And do what?"
"How should I know? We didn't pack a lot of weapons this time on the account we was looking to pack a lot back."
He nodded. "Throw that last. That may be our ticket in to Fort Knocks."
"Maybe not." She said as she continued to thumb through the pages. Her robotic eyes scanned the pages quickly, and her digital mind digested and assimilated the information in an instant. "This thing is designed to be dropped in to a volcano and stick to the wall. There it's Supposed to watch the rocks."
"Watch the rocks do what?"
"I don't know, move or some thing."
Mac looked over at her, questioning. She looked back and shrugged. The car ran over a stop sign and Mac looked back out at the road. Or rather the aria ten feet away from the road. He swerved and brought the car back on track. "Why would any one want to watch rocks?"
"Beast me." She replied. She picked the sphere up and lobbed it behind her in to the back seat. "What else did we get?"
"Other than that stupid drill nada!"
"Crud!" She looked again at the mirror and glared. "Those Swat Kats are right on our tails Mac."
"I know!"
"Then DO some thing."
"Like what?" He swerved, randomly, and hit a small tree. "There nothing for miles!"
"So turn around!"
He looked up at her, metallic eyebrows shoved low. "WHAT?"
"Turn around. It'll confuse the heck out of em. We can pick up some more junk and then scram."
"You want me to drive TOWARDS the Swat Kats AND Enforcers?" He looked back and saw the Turbo Kat closing in.
Molly looked back as well. "Got any BETTER ideas?"
He frowned as much as his metallic mug would allow. "No." Returning his gaze to the front window he gripped the steering wheel. "Hang on Moll!"
"All ways." She replied, with a touch of sarcasm.
He managed to toss her one quick scathing look before yanking the wheel to the left. Just as he did so a missile sailed past them, and struck the ground where they would have been.
"YES!" Mack shouted. He stepped on the gas and started to zig zag back to the lonely mountain top labs.
"I told ya'!"
"Yeah yeah, what ever." Another explosion shook the vehicle. "Listen, the second we bail this car is going to be bombed to kingdom come. We'll be stuck there."
"Oh." She said, and glanced back. "They have cars and stuff there. We'll just take one of those."
"Right." He swerved again and squinted up at the flying squad of Enforcers. They were looming close now, tracer fire streaming down.
"MAC STEP ON IT!"
"DON'T SHOUT AT ME WHILE I'M DRIVING!" He snapped. He did 'step on it' however, and the car shot forward. It sailed under the rain of hot fire before clearing the squad. His ears swiveled around and he lowered his head, as if the action would allow them to go faster.
Molly looked again in the rear view and laughed.
"What?"
"Those Swat Kats nearly collided with the Enforcers."
Mac snorted in amusement and ran over a bush. "Lousy drivers."
Molly gave him a cool look but did not comment.
"What?" He asked, glaring. He ran over another shrub and a warning sign.
"Nothing." She looked back again. "Ah CRUD! The short one is coming after us on his bike!"
Mac grumbled and gave the car all the gas he could. "He still on our tails?"
"Yeah, and he's gaining."
"We're all most to the buildings now, we'll loose him there."
"Or blast him to bits!"
"Yeah, or that." Mack smiled and drove through the traffic bar, shattering it. He continued driving and, when a building loomed up before them, he grinned. "Ready or not!" The car plowed in to the building and slammed to a stop. The force sent the sphere sailing up and it slammed in to the back of Molly's head.
"MAC!" Molly cried. The sphere beeped twice and fell in to her lap.
"You OK?" Ha asked as he opened his door.
She sneered. "Still alive, not that you care."
"Maybe I don't!" He stepped out of the door and slammed it. Molly, picking up both the drill and the sphere, got out as well. She winced, some thing was rattling around in side her head. As far as she could tell, however, she was still fully functional. Grumbling dark words of her own she stepped over the debris and walked around to the back of the car. Mac already had the trunk open and was equipping his arm with a hand blaster. "You still got that thing?" He asked.
She looked down at the shining sphere in her hand and frowned. "Yeah. So?"
Mac glanced back at the approaching cyclotron. "So give it a toss all ready."
"Fine." She crouched down again, letting the drill slide off her shoulder, and then sprung with enough force to send her self in to the air. The sphere sailed, a dozen little points suddenly emerging from it's body, and slammed full force in to the on coming bike. The bike slid, it's rider jumping clear and landing hard on the pavement, narrowly avoiding the resulting explosion.
"Good shot!" Mac said, a full grin appearing.
Molly stood and struck a pose. "Thank you Mac."
"Any time Molly. Now get your tin can moving!"
"All right all right, don't be so pushy!" She rolled her eyes, equipped her own blaster, and aimed it at the downed figure. "Some times I wonder why I ever married you."
Mac aimed his blaster as well. "Well the feeling is mutual."
Together they fired.
Preview of the next Chapter!
"What is it, Swat Kat?"
T-Bone jumped down and jogged up to the larger tom. "Molly is down and Mac's trying to cart her off. I don't know where too, but he's been slowed down."
Feral nodded and turned to convey the information to his troops.
"And." T-Bone said, his ears falling ever so slightly.
"And?" He turned back, looking annoyed.
"Razor says your niece is down."