The Dark Side of the Swat Kats

The Dark Side of the Swat Kats is the ninth episode of season two of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, and the twenty-second episode overall. It is the second episode to be split into two stories.

Characters
Main characters:
 * T-Bone
 * Razor
 * Commander Feral

Supporting characters:
 * Ulysses Feral (alternate universe)
 * Felina Feral (alternate universe)

Villains:
 * Dark Kat (alternate universe)
 * Dark SWAT Kats
 * Dark Callie Briggs

Other Characters: (In order of appearance) Creatures: (In order of appearance)
 * Puma-Dyne Guards
 * Feral's Pilot
 * Creeplings (alternate universe)

Act One
On a cold and rainy night in Megakat City, T-Bone and Razor are out in the Turbokat testing Razor's newest invention, the Dimensional Radar Scanner. Razor explains that the new system will allow them to see buildings and aircraft with enhanced 3D detail, even in bad weather, which is why Razor wanted to test it on a night like this one.

Just as T-Bone is marveling at how easy this system will make night flying, the radar gets a fix on an Enforcer Chopper. Using the radar, they are able to see inside the chopper's cockpit and find that not only is Commander Feral flying it, but he apparently forgot to shave this morning. The two vigilantes call him on the radio and tease him about it, much to his annoyance. Then, just as he shouts at them to get off his frequency, they make a close pass by the chopper, so close they nearly collide. This riles Feral up even more, but the Swat Kats interrupt him with another joke before promptly heading back to the salvage yard.

As they do so, the storm becomes more intense and T-Bone becomes concerned as his visibility is getting much worse. Razor reassures him that he's already locked the Dimensional Radar on the hangar. Just as he does so, a bolt of lightning streaks out of the sky and slams into the jet, sending it into a series of barrel rolls. T-Bone eventually regains control and nothing seems to be wrong with the jet except that the Dimensional Radar has been knocked out.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Feral's chopper appears again, heading straight at them. T-Bone gasps in horror and barely avoids a collision, noting that that miss was even closer than their first, and not at all funny. Then, much to their surprise, cannon fire streaks by their right wing. Looking behind them, they can barely believe their eyes when they see Feral firing furiously at them. Moments later, they receive another shock when Felina Feral makes a head-on pass at them in her Enforcer Jet, guns blazing. T-Bone puts his confusion aside for a moment and lights his afterburners, using the Turbokat's superior speed to get away from the Enforcers.

T-Bone and Razor land safely at the salvage yard, still reeling in confusion from the Ferals' unprovoked attack. T-Bone realizes it was as if they were being treated like criminals. As they climb out, they receive another shock: their hideout has been wrecked. Tables and chairs have been knocked over and various ordinance, garbage and spare parts lie strewn about the hangar. While Razor checks the security system, T-Bone finds a strange-looking glovatrix that appears to have been beefed-up with extra armament and spikes in the gloves. He also finds a strange cache of missiles with distorted green faces painted on their noses. Razor reports that the alarm hasn't gone off and the security seals are all intact.

Just then, a sleepy Creepling walks out from behind the strange missiles. T-Bone quickly grabs it and punches it out, but he and Razor receive yet another shock as a horde of Creeplings emerge from the shadows and surround attacking the two vigilantes. Just then, the biggest shock of all emerges from shadows: Dark Kat himself. Dark Kat demands an explanation as to why T-Bone and Razor attacked the Creeplings, as they are on the same side. T-Bone, in disbelief, fires back, asking how Dark Kat got in.

Confused, Dark Kat explains he got in the same way he always does, using the remote the Swat Kats gave him, which looks strikingly similar to the remote they use to open the hangar door. Nothing makes sense, so the Swat Kats whisper to each other to play along until they can get out of there. Dark Kat demands to know why they are acting strangely and if they have stolen the Mega Detonator from Puma-Dyne. Razor plays it off, saying they ran into trouble with Feral (which is not entirely false). Dark Kat reveals that the Enforcers have been a thorn in their sides for too long and that combined with the Mega Detonator, his bomb will obliterate Enforcer HQ. He orders the Swat Kats to Puma-Dyne to steal the Detonator, wondering if they have forgotten that Feral has put a price on their heads, as a wanted poster in the hangar reveals.

T-Bone and Razor take off, more stunned and confused than ever. Nothing makes sense: Dark Kat is their ally, Feral and the Enforcers are their enemies and they are wanted for every crime in Megakat City. T-Bone quips that the "world's gone crazy" ever since they got hit by the lightning. This gives Razor a theory: the Dimensional Radar was online when they were hit, they have somehow been thrown into an alternate reality, complete with a pair of "Evil Swat Kats". They realize that getting hit by lightning again may get them home, but first, they have to prevent Dark Kat from completing his bomb. They decide to steal the Mega Detonator before anyone else can, and head for Pumadyne.

Meanwhile, another Turbokat, though painted with a green face on the nose that resembles Dark Kat, lands clumsily in the hangar, and two familiar but gruff voices argue viciously about the pilot's lack of flying skills. As the pair jump out, they are revealed to be the "Evil" or Dark Swat Kats that T-Bone predicted. True to the backwards nature of this alternate dimension, these Swat Kats are the polar opposites of the 'prime' pair. Dark T-Bone is a lousy pilot, Dark Razor is a terrible shot, and the two hate each other.

Dark Kat chastises them, wondering what they are doing back so soon, and without the detonator. Dark T-Bone reveals that they have returned from robbing a bank, tossing a sack of money to Dark Kat. Dark Razor says they will be headed to Puma-Dyne right after they load up a few more "Dead-Head Missiles". Dark Kat, now throroughly confused, says that he just watched the Swat Kats take off headed for Puma-Dyne. He then realizes that it wasn't the Swat Kats he's talking to now and sends the Dark Swat Kats to Puma-Dyne after the "impostors". The Dark Swat Kats quickly agree, saying that "This town isn't big enough for two sets of Swat Kats."

Act Two
Later, the "prime" Swat Kats arrive at Puma-Dyne and infiltrate the building, taking great care to avoid alerting or harming the guards and sneaking deftly past the building's security system. Unfortunately, the Dark Swat Kats are close behind and use the exact opposite approach to get in. They overpower virtually every guard they come across and nearly trip the infared sensors guarding the hallway where the vault containing the Mega Detonator is located. They then argue about the other's incompetence, neither noticing that one guard regained consciousness for a moment and activated a silent alarm.

The "prime" Swat Kats split up and each check a room in the corridor, not knowing that their counterparts have done the same thing. Razor succeeds in finding the detonator just as Dark T-Bone enters the room. Razor suggests they make their escape before Dark Kat finds out the truth about them. Dark T-Bone slyly says that he already has before punching Razor to the ground, knocking the detonator out of his hands. Razor is shaken for a moment before he realizes that it is not "his" T-Bone. As Razor fights back, the detonator rolls into the corridor just as T-Bone and Dark Razor emerge from their respective rooms. Dark Razor rudely asks if T-Bone has found "them" yet, confusing T-Bone who's momentarily thrown by his "partner's" tone. Dark Razor clarifies he is talking about "the impostors", punctuating it with another insult. T-Bone quickly realizes Razor would never talk to him like that and that he has the element of surprise because Dark Razor doesn't recognize him. He takes advantage of the situation and swiftly sucker-punches Dark Razor in the face.

A scuffle ensues between the two pairs of Swat Kats as they fight over the detonator. At one point, T-Bone comes face to face with his Dark counterpart, but knocks Dark T-Bone for a loop with a haymaker to the head, giving the 'prime' Swat Kats the upper hand. Unfortunately, T-Bone also mistakenly grabs 'prime' Razor and throws him into a wall, despite Razor's protests. This gives the Dark Swat Kats a chance to regroup and counter-attack with Mini-Megatons from Evil T-Bone's Glovetrix. The blast knocks the Mega-Detonator out of Razor's hands and sends both 'prime' Kats flying through a wall and into another room. The Dark Kats grab the detonator and prepare to finish T-Bone and Razor off, but just then, Commander and Lieutenant Feral arrive with the Enforcers. Both Prime Kats are promptly arrested, however both vehemently protest, saying that their counterparts are getting away with the detonator. Curious, Felina gives a quick look around, but finds no one else in the building. Feral calls them liars and tells them they will be spending the rest of their nine lives in prison, before leading them away.

Act Three
Later, at Enforcer HQ, T-Bone and Razor are being put into a cell deep in the building. They try again to inform Feral that their counterparts got away with the Mega Detonator in order to get it to Dark Kat. They add that now that Dark Kat has everything he needs to finish his bomb, Enforcer HQ could be reduced to rubble at any time. Feral continues to stand firm, dismissing their story as a pathetic attempt to save their own tails. However, Razor tries to appeal to Feral's sense of logic, if they are the only Swat Kats, and he now has them in the lock-up, then where did the Mega Detonator go? Razor implores Feral to go to Pumadyne and look for the detonator, but Feral refuses out of spite, as he does not take orders from criminals. Feral leaves the Swat Kats alone in the cell, but once he is out of earshot, he heads for the flight line and orders a pilot to take him to Puma-Dyne. It seems that Razor's reasoning may have put doubt into his mind...

Back in the cell, the Swat Kats await their end. T-Bone begins to fall into despair as he takes stock of all the things that have gone wrong for them that day. Moments later, an irate Callie Briggs arrives at the holding cells, and the two are broken out of their depression, delighted to see her. However, their excitement is short-lived as she berates them for fouling up her plan to take over Megakat City. T-Bone and Razor are virtually stunned speechless, barely believing their beloved Callie could be collaborating with Dark Kat. When Razor's disbelief slips out of his mouth, Callie sneers at him for feigning ignorance, griping that she'd gladly let them rot in prison if they weren't so useful to her.

Callie grudgingly produces a key-card from her briefcase and unlocks the cell, allowing the Swat Kats out. She leads them to the flight line where she incapacitates a guard with a puff of gas from her briefcase, and orders the two into the Turbokat to get the detonator to Dark Kat. The Swat Kats take off, still in disbelief about what's just happened. Little do the three of them know that Dark Kat and his Creeplings are loading the bomb into the Dark Turbokat at that very moment...

En route to Puma-Dyne, Feral gets a transmission from HQ informing him of the Swat Kats' escape. Feral is irate, believing he has been tricked, and orders his pilot to return to HQ, just as the Dark Swat Kats take off with the bomb.

As the Swat Kats head back toward the hangar, Razor wonders if Feral knows they've escaped yet. He gets his answer seconds later when Feral's jet appears on their tail, guns blazing. T-Bone contacts Feral over the radio, wondering if it would help their case if Feral knew that Callie freed them. Feral angrily replies that they're so eager to save their own skin, they'll say anything.

Just then, another transmission comes in over Feral's radio. It's from Felina, and it's urgent. Feral brushes her off, as he is busy pursuing the Swat Kats. However, Felina is thoroughly confused, as she is also leading a pursuit of the Swat Kats at that very moment. Feral can't believe his ears. The Swat Kats are right at his 12 O'Clock, filling his gunsight, and they can't be in two places at once.

From out of nowhere, the Dark Turbokat flashes past Feral and the Swat Kats at breakneck speed, with Felina and her wingmen in hot pursuit. The sight finally convinces Feral of the truth: there are two sets of Swat Kats and one of them is about to bomb Enforcer HQ. Much to the T-Bone and Razor's amusement however, the realization hasn't shaken Feral's sense of pride, and he promptly declares that, "The Enforcers will handle this!"

Meanwhile, the Evil Razor locks on to the pursuit force and fires a volley of shark-like missiles, downing both of Felina's wingmen and nearly hitting Feral and the Turbokat as well. Dark T-Bone insults Dark Razor for his shoddy aim, but Dark Razor responds by launching a "Deadhead" missile directly at Felina. Felina tries to dodge the missile, but the green head opens and splatters her canopy with a black, grease-like substance. Now blinded, Felina is unaware that she is headed on a collision course with the "GoodKat" blimp, which is filled with people. Just as she is about to crash, the prime Swat Kats swoop in and grab her jet with grappling hooks, setting her down safely on a nearby rooftop. Felina pops open her canopy and, despite still being a little puzzled, thanks the Swat Kats for saving her life. After giving her a wave in return, they race off to rejoin the pursuit.

Meanwhile, the Dark Swat Kats are dodging a hail of cannon fire from Feral's jet. Despite Dark T-Bone's insults, Dark Razor removes Feral's right wing with a Deathspike missile causing both Feral and his pilot to eject. Seconds later, the Turbokat appears on their tail and opens fire, but it's too late, the Dark Turbokat is already on the bomb run for Enforcer HQ. However, just when it seems that nothing can stop them, Dark T-Bone aborts the bomb run and pulls up hard, much to his co-pilot's surprise and annoyance. Despite objections from both Dark Razor and Dark Kat, Dark T-Bone is determined to best the 'prime' Swat Kats.

In the ensuing dogfight, the Dark Turbokat quickly gains the upper hand, getting on right on the Turbokat's tail and launching a Deadhead missile. The missile explodes just off the Turbokat's right wing, sending the Swat Kats out of control and into Megakat Bay. The Dark Swat Kats celebrate and head back to Enforcer HQ, but unbeknownst to them, the Turbokat emerges from the water seconds later, having used their "Speed of Heat" ability to blast free of the bay. T-Bone activates the Turbokat's jet boosters and the two heroes quickly catch back up to the Dark Turbokat. However, there is a problem, the last hit has disabled Razor's targeting system. Fortunately, he remembers the Dimensional Radar, though he is unsure it still works after being hit by the lightning. Much to his delight, it activates and the Swat Kats move in to attack.

Unfortunately, Dark Razor is quick on the draw, and launches a Scrambler Missile at the pair. Razor realizes they only have one shot to stop the bomb and orders T-Bone to keep the jet steady, even if it costs them their lives. He fires off a few rounds from the cement machine gun before the missile impacts the Turbokat's fuselage and sends them towards the ground. The Dark Swat Kats celebrate again, unaware that one round landed right on the bomb as it descended from their bomb bay.

The Dark Turbokat hovers over Enforcer HQ, ready to strike, but Dark Razor suddenly realizes, to his horror, that the bomb isn't going anywhere. The bomb detonates in mid-air, taking the Dark Turbokat and Dark Swat Kats with it. Dark Kat watches in anguish from the hangar's monitor, foiled once again. Callie also witnesses the blast from City Hall and screams in frustration that her plans are ruined. She attempts to skip town, but runs right into Felina, who promptly arrests her.

Meanwhile, the Turbokat is enveloped in electrical arcs and sparks, and is in a nosedive heading straight for the ground. Razor calls for them both to bail out, but T-Bone yells for him to wait as he struggles to regain control of the stricken fighter. Just as they are about to hit the ground, there is a huge flash of white light from Razor's console, momentarily blinding the two. As it fades, T-Bone suddenly regains control and power returns to the jet as if nothing had happened. Seconds later, the Turbokat speeds directly across the path of an Enforcer Chopper. Feral comes over the radio, irate that the near miss caused him to spill hot coffee all over his leg. The two are delighted to hear him vow to put them behind bars, much as he did at the beginning of the episode. The missile hit has thrown back into their own dimension, thanks to the Dimensional Radar. The two friends happily head for home as Feral follows them, vowing to "string [them] up by [their] tails".

Goofs

 * During the final dogfight, the Dark Turbokat launches a missile at the 'Prime' Turbokat, sending it into Megakat bay. When it leaves the Dark Turbokat's bomb bay, it appears to be an Octopus missile however, in the next shot, it is a Deadhead missile.

Trivia/Continuity

 * At the beginning of the episode, T-Bone makes yet another joke about Feral's anal-retentive attitude, claiming that a nice prune donut ought to relax him. The first was in The Giant Bacteria, when T-Bone noticed that Feral, "Probably hasn't hit the litter box in a week."