After the mission with the dolphins, I eventually got back to the beach I had first departed from when I had said bye to Chance and Jake. As I left the water, feeling the chill as the cold ocean breeze hit my fur, I looked up at the sky. Up there hung the moon and countless stars. It was about midnight, or some time close to that. The beach was deserted; everything was dead silent except for the gentle waves washing up on the beach. I looked back to the ocean one last time then stood up and walked away. 

    I found the cave that the Swat Kats had told me about and looked around for the communicator. After several moments, I found a small triangular device. The beacon on which to signal the Swat Kats, in perfect condition, in camouflage colors... I picked it up, examined it and then pressed the gray button in the middle. I knew at this moment, the two Swat Kats would be getting out of bed, and rushing to the hanger. They knew I was done. How would they react on seeing me? I stood out in the open and waited for the sound of jet engines, as I paced back and forth. 

    A half hour passed, maybe more, before the Turbo Kat arrived. I could of sworn they looked overjoyed in seeing me. I smiled and headed over the the landing jet, in a pace just below a run. T-Bone and Razor jumped out of their cockpit, and congratulated me on getting back in one piece and on hearing I had been successful, continued on with the positive comments. Soon, the comments turned to questions, as we all boarded the jet. I told them I'd answer all their questions as soon as we arrived back in the hanger, but on the ride home, all I wanted to do was zone out.

    The Turbo Kat rose gracefully into the air and soared to its destination. The ride, short and brief, was without incident. Once we had arrived at the hanger and the Swat Kats had gotten out of their uniforms and into civilian clothing, I told my story. 

    They were impressed to say the least. We talked a bit longer, but my interest on reviewing the mission just wasn't there. I didn't want to talk about it. At least not right away. Just some time ago, I had probably lived the most stressful days of my life. Running, swimming, and singing for my life. Who would of ever thought a song, a haunting, creepy dolphin song could save a race? It just seemed so dreamy. 

    "Deamer, Misty, Gleam, Blake, where ever you are, I miss you...," I thought silently," I wish you could all still be here on this earth, you risked so much..."

    After the talk, I went upstairs and straight to bed. My mind drifted off, my thoughts no longer registering. I was already fast asleep before my head hit the pillow.

    A long time later, approximately a day and a half after the talk, I woke up. I had been so exhausted, that no one had come around to wake me up. When the fuzziness of sleep had worn off enough so that I wouldn't fall flat on my face, I went downstairs and made myself breakfast, which consisted of a glass of milk and an apple. There seemed to be no schedule to follow, so I decided to go down to the hanger and check things out after I finished eating. Maybe they'd come up with a new type of missile or device for their jet. Maybe they'd come up with another handheld weapon for dealing with bad guys on their missions. Maybe they had even gotten around to implementing the improvements I had thought of, into the F-15...

    Entering the hanger, I could feel the drop in temperature. I wandered around the Turbo Kat's section of the hanger, trying to see if they'd done anything new. I spotted a pair of machines aways from the usual missile weapons used by the Swat Kats, looking like mini ships with small cameras installed. The rack holding the support craft had a small sign reading, "Beholders." I guessed that these little jets were remotely controlled spies, but I wasn't entirely sure. After more looking around, and not seeing anything else, I went to where my jet was being kept.

    On entering my jet's room, I climbed on top of a pile of crates to better examine how the F-15 Eagle's looks and shape had changed. The clear view allowed me to see everything except the rear of the jet. The external fuel tanks had been removed and the intakes had been replaced with more aerodynamically shaped ones that were better at sucking in air. The Eagle's powerful wings had been moved back several feet, allowing room for a pair of canards on each side of the jet, just under the cockpit.  Each one was about three feet long, increasing maneuverability. The main wings also had several feet shaved off on them, and were swept back at several more degrees then usual. 

    I couldn't see the back of my jet from where I was, so I climbed down off of the crates and walked to the back of my aircraft. I gasped: the vertical stabilizers, gone. Shaved off without a trace. The horizontal stabilizers were still there, larger in size and a bit more complex. I stretched out a paw to touch the jet, and stood there for several moments in a daze. The last thing I noticed, was that all insignia had been removed. There was no mark left from where this plane had come, or where it would ever go. The "skin" of the craft was painted all in black, except for the the top of the tail which was white and the cockpit, which couldn't be painted on. The other area which wasn't black, was around the intakes, which had a half foot trim of red and black stripes, cautionary colors to stay away from that area, when the engines were operating. It looked awesome. 

    Finally, as if snapping out of a dream, before I knew it, I was climbing into the cockpit. It looked different; several of the monitors had been replaced with different screens and more efficient battle processing computers. I almost couldn't believe it, everything seemed so perfect. I couldn't wait for the day I'd bring this jet into battle. 

    It seemed proper to deem this my jet now, since the chances of the Air Force getting it back were less then none, and because the jet had undergone a major transformation. The Eagle had been redesigned, and in hopes I could learn to fly it. My old home was far off. I had no choice now, but to adapt to where I was; it also wasn't like my parents or the USAF could of just appeared and then punished me for this. I almost smiled. What would the military think if I got back, flying this "Mega" F-15? Would they charge me? Or let it drop? I shoved the thoughts aside, try not to think of how much my home back in the human universe meant to me. I couldn't afford to be homesick, not now.

    I was just about to go upstairs when the buzzer went off. I swore under my breath and heard Chance and Jake scrambling down the ladder into the hanger. They rushed to the buzzer and Chance picked up the phone. He looked at me then responded:

    "Yes Miss Briggs? Uh hu. Dr. Viper is... Attacking the biochemical labs. Another attack down on the west side of the city... Yes.... Ok, we're be there ASAP."

    "Not Viper again," Jake said, dashing to his locker to change, with Chance just a split second behind, heading to his.

    I stood there, staring at the buzzer, when it suddenly it occurred to me: why didn't I come along. I could morph into a Griffin. As they dashed off for their jet, I stopped Razor.

    "Can I come? I could morph into a Griffin. I could help out!" I said.

    "Conrad, it's way to dangerous... but then, we could use the extra help... All right! You can come, but don't anything we don't tell you, all right? That freak could change your pretty little Griffin self into a walking, talking butchering machine... ." Jake replied.

    "Ok, I won't." I responded, fighting down the urge to say something stupid.

    The cargo bay doors opened and I jumped in. The Turbo Kat, being the two seater it was, left me to ride in bomb bay. The doors closed and the jet was off. The ride was bumpy, but worth it. In about five minutes, we were over the heart of MegaKat City. At this moment, it seemed right to morph. I had to ask Razor first, though. I popped up my head.

    "Razor is it time, yet??"

    "Yes. But are you sure you want to do this? You're not even trained," he said hastily.

    "Yes. You think I'm just gonna sit back and do nothing?" I pictured the Globe. Tense seconds went by, and in seemingly no time, I was a Griffin. I was maybe six and feet tall, and bundle of super tense energy. I had long eagle-like paws, with black claws about an inch and a half long on my "fingers." I had long falcon wings, good for diving and long endurance flight. I had lion feet and a lion tail, with just noticeable feather/ear tufts on my head. I was a light gray color all over except for my wings which had white bars on the ends and my feet and beak which were an orange-yellow. I wasn't exactly colorful, but I guess it worked to my advantage. Not a target to be seen easily, and therefore not to be killed right away.

    The jets howl seemed to intensify after the morph, probably due to my enhanced hearing. The Turbo Kat suddenly banked sharply, throwing me against the side of the cargo bay, and then all the sudden, climbed. I fell towards the back of the cargo bay, just to smash headfirst into the floor. That hurt. I grabbed around for ANYTHING to hold onto, and reached for a missile on a rack and grabbed on firmly. I could hear T-Bone and Razor talking in the cockpit, swearing about the flying organisms Viper was sending against them. I was getting battered down here and I wasn't even in battle. I didn't want to disturb them, but anymore bouncing around and I might as well had stayed back at the hanger.

    I took in a breath, and then just as I was about to stand and move to a place that might of been safer to hang onto, the Swat Kats fired the missile I had been grabbing onto.

    "WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed as loud as I could. "AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

    I was launched outside of the jet, with this missile veering off towards its target. I slipped off of it and started pumping my wings, but the air was too turbulent. No lift... sinking. Sinking straight to my death, if I didn't start gaining height in about ten seconds. Flap, flap, flap... Slowly but surely I was gaining height.

    I wheeled around, and saw the three "things" the Swat Kats had been talking about. They were albino, with long needle-like wings and long pointed mouths, filled with hordes of teeth. The sped towards the Turbo Kat, while spiting streams of needles and acid, ignoring me. Not for long...

    I pumped my wings with all my might, heading for the closest one. It kept on ignoring me. DIE! I flew just above it and then dove into it, slashing away with every talon and claw I had. It didn't have any claws of its own; it had been designed for distance combat. I killed it and then shoved off from its falling form and then went for the next one. The other two kept on ignoring me, but just then, two nearly silent choppers appeared. The first one shot off bullets missing me, but the second one, having better aim (and Commander Feral inside) didn't. The chopper's bullets punctured my right wing and shoulder and embedded themselves deeply. The pain was unbearable. I plummeted downwards and prayed for something to save me. Anything. I looked at my wounds. I was in too much pain to fly, but still I tried to flap my wings. I looked over, counting the number of bullet wounds... five to be exact. Blood gushed out of every one. I swore under my breath, and after that, I saw the choppers flying off to engage the real enemy. More of the albino creatures had shown up and now there were 10 of them. I saw the building the albinos had came out of; it had organic tendrils all over it, and on the ground Enforcers were trying to break in without success.

    Without success. 'Stupid idiot! I'm the one who's not going to make it. I'm gonna hit the pavement and die!' I screamed silently to myself.

    Finally the pain won. My wings seemed to freeze up and refused to function. I then became a projectile. I aimed for the building with the organic masses on it. Seconds and then minutes went by. I hit the roof and bounced on collision. I wailed at the pain of impact. I clutched my wounded wing and then began to walk (on all fours) towards the door to the inside of the building. I was now nearly paralyzed. I didn't have enough coordination to work the knob, so I just smashed down the door, and then fell down the steps... 

    I felt dizzy and finally grabbed a rail to stop my tumbling. I then on my stomach, looked up. Blood was everywhere. My blood. "Nooooooo!" I managed. I then started coughing. I collapsed at that moment and finally passed out. I thought my last thoughts and let myself go.