The Radical Beginning

'**The Radical Beginning'** is a *SWAT Kats* prequel, telling the origins of Jake and Chance during their time in the Enforcers. It exists in two forms. A complete version in screenplay format, and a currently unfinished story adaptation of it. It is written by Kooshmeister.

## Plot

Megakat City is about to celebrate its 400th anniversary. Jake Clawson and Chance Furlong are officers in the Enforcers, and discover a plot by the corrupt Deputy Mayor Claude Balcus to take over the city at the anniversary celebration.

## Script

Jake and Chance are serving under Lieutenant Ulysses Feral. Jake longs to be a leader of the Enforcers while Chance longs to be his assistant and a pilot in the Enforcers' air division, but his feisty temper keeps him from being allowed to join. They're supposed to bust a ring of carjackers, unaware that the gang have hijacked an armored car full of gold from the Megakat Mint on the pay of a mysterious individual. When the individual's henchmen, led by Todfeld, show up to collect the gold, Todfeld has the carjackers killed instead of paying them.

Jake and Chance pursue the henchmen in an Enforcer cruiser, but lose them at Old Megakat Bridge. They get in trouble with Feral over it. Elsewhere, Ann Gora and Jonny K. are listening in on their radio when they follow the henchmen. Their hideout is Deputy Mayor Claude Balcus' ancestral home, Darkhaven, a mansion built alongside a deep gorge in the countryside. It turns out Balcus himself, a corrupt official with knowledge of the dark arts, voodoo in particular, is behind the gold thefts and has something big in the works relating to the city's upcoming anniversary celebration.

Ann discovers that they're melting the stolen gold down for some unspecified pursue. Spotted, she and Jonny flee, running Todfeld over with the news van, killing him. Balcus however has him taken inside into his alchemy laboratory and sends some henchmen to kidnap Ann and Jonny. Ann took photos of the smelting operation, and, developing them, gives them to Jonny to take to Callie Briggs at the D.A.'s office at City Hall. Two henchmen attempt to abduct her, but run afoul of an off-duty Jake and Chance. Ann escapes and the henchmen are arrested.

Meanwhile, Jonny goes to City Hall with the photos. Callie isn't there, so he gives the pictures to staffer Tim O'Mally. On his way out, henchman Leonard ambushes and kidnaps him.

Jake and Chance take their prisoners to Enforcer Headquarters where Jake gets in trouble with Lieutenant Feral for punching one of them. In the meantime, Ann Gora is kidnapped at her apartment. Jake and Chance think to question the captured henchmen for information regarding Ann's whereabouts, but Lieutenant Commander Steel (whose name is spelled "Steele" in the scripted version) reveals he released the prisoners on the orders of Commander Vitus Ashland. Furious, Jake and Chance confront Ashland, who reprimands them for arrested "private citizens with the license to carry concealed weapons." He puts them on patrol duty, and Feral refuses to stick up for them.

After they're gone it is revealed Ashland is evil, and in league with Balcus. At Darkhaven, Ann and Jonny are interrogated. Under threat of getting shot by Leonard, Jonny reveals what he did with the photos and he and Ann are imprisoned in a cave overlooking the mansion's foundry. Balcus then revives the dead Todfeld as an intelligent, super-strong zombie and tests his strength by having him fight and kill the two henchmen who got arrested. He then sends him to assassinate Callie.

Jake and Chance's first call is from a security guard at City Hall, complaining about the abandoned Kat's Eye News van (left there when Leonard kidnapped Jonny). They're there overseeing its being towed by Burke and Murray when Callie Briggs arrives and is shown the photographs of Darkhaven's gold-smelting operation by Tim O'Mally. She realizes the Deputy Mayor is corrupt. Todfeld arrives, shoots Tim, and throws Callie out of the window. She's rescued by Jake, who catches her. Todfeld shoots at them, blowing their cruiser up, forcing them to escape by stealing Burke and Murray's tow truck. A chase ensues with Todfeld riding in a helicopter firing at them.

The chase ends in a park where they end up crashing into the water of a large lake after hitting a cyclist. Chance manages to dog paddle to shore, concealing his inability to swim, when the helicopter lands and Todfeld gets out and knocks him aside, taking Callie. Meanwhile, Chance was rescuing the cyclist they hit from drowning. The helicopter flies away with Callie a prisoner on board, and Jake and Chance argue over whose fault it was. The Enforcers arrive, led by Feral.

At City Hall, an enraged Mayor Manx chews out Balcus, Commander Ashland and Steel. He orders them to arrest whoever is responsible for all the destruction, as he believes terrorists are responsible and he doesn't want the anniversary celebration, which is to be held at Darkhaven that night, disrupted. Balcus orders Ashland to find some scapegoats. Although he is not in on the conspiracy, Steel, told to handle it, decides to select Jake and Chance because he hates them. Along with two equally unpleasant Enforcers, Jablonsky and Lyman, he arrives at the park to do just that over Feral's protests, but Jake and Chance escape custody.

Upon learning the order originated from Ashland, Feral goes and confronts him as Steel is helping him get ready for the party at Darkhaven. Feral insinuates he knows Ashland is corrupt, but Ashland neither confirms nor denies it and threatens Feral's career. After he leaves, Steel, who has also realized Ashland is corrupt, declares him unfit, takes over, and orders Feral to arrest him. Feral his disgusted by Steel's ambition.

At Darkhaven, Jake and Chance sneak in, intending to rescue Callie and Ann Gora. Balcus eats dinner with the captive Callie in a private dining room while everyone else is in a different part of the house preparing for the party. He explains his plan is to eliminate all the different department heads of Megakat City, including Manx, by serving them poisoned wine at the party, and take over. The stolen, melted down gold is being used to make a new currency. Callie stabs his hand with a steak knife, causing his hand to become deformed and purple. She almost escapes but is recaptured by the recently arrived Commander Ashland.

Attempting to intervene, Jake and Chance are easily beaten up by Todfeld and subdued. In the alchemy laboratory, Balcus reveals he is growing Creeplings to be his new city's workforce, and that he has used his dark powers to make himself effectively immortal, incapable of surviving any injury - at the price of turning him deformed and purple. He uses some magic on the hand Callie stabbed and returns it to normal. He has her imprisoned with Ann and Jonny and orders Ashland to kill Jake and Chance and then leaves, but they overpower Ashland and lock him in a shallow pit with a hinged lid.

In the foundry, they knock out Leonard and free Callie, Ann and Jonny from the cage. Todfeld appears and he and Chance fight. The undead henchman almost wins, until, with Callie's help, Chance is able to lift him up into the air with a chain. Then the five of them rush to the ballroom and prevent everyone from drinking the poisoned wine. Manx fires Balcus. The Enforcers, led by Feral, arrive, and have a shootout with Balcus' henchmen who are disguised as waiters. Balcus flees down an escape tunnel and tries to leave in his helicopter, but Jake jumps aboard and kicks him out. The corrupt Deputy Mayor falls down into the gorge to his seeming death.

All of Balcus' surviving henchmen are arrested, and so is Ashland after he is found by Jablonsky and Lyman. Manx has him relieved. Steel, arriving after everything is already over and done with, insists *he* should be next Enforcer commander, but Manx names Feral instead, earning Steel's ire. Manx also suggests Callie enter politics, setting up her becoming the next deputy mayor. To reward Jake for defeating Balcus, the newly appointed Commander Feral assigns him to be an ace leader and a gunner. and he asks Chance to come and be a pilot in the air division. Chance happily accepts.