Power Rangers: Animarium- Part VI: K-9 Kompanion

Summary: When Fang's father Granite arrives on the Animarium, the two share an emotional reunion. Fang starts to display special skills that get him considered to be a future police dog.

Original Characters: Charlie, Tyke, Sgt. Fabrice.
Non-Power Rangers Actors/Characters: Mario Lopez (Sgt. Mario Sanchez), Michael Phelps (himself), Andrew, Rafael, Monica, Tess (From Touched By an Angel)

I own nothing except for the original characters.

Preston was in the temple area getting his magic stuff together. He was going to perform at Tyke's school, but he knew he was missing something. He looked up when Fang walked in.
"Hey, Fang." He reached down and gave the young wolf a scratch behind his ear. "I'm getting ready to do a magic show at Tony's school, but I think I'm missing something." Preston opened up his bag and started to go through it. He had his cards, most of his small tricks, but he still felt he was missing something.
Fang looked around and then spotted something. He quickly came back, and just when Preston looked up, he saw the pup holding his hat in his mouth with his wand inside it. His tail was wagging fast.
Preston smiled. "That's it! Thank you so much, Fang!" He took the wand and placed the hat on his head. "What do you think?" Fang let out a couple barks of approval. Preston smiled.
"You're so cute." He picked the pup up and gave him a little tickle and hug.
Later that afternoon, Fang was walking around the Animarium and checking things out. He ran into Brody and Levi. The cowboy noticed the pup and smiled.
He knelt down in front of the pup. "Hey there, little partner. What are you up to?"
Fang barked at him and jumped up and grabbed Levi's cowboy hat and started to run with it. The two Romero brothers laughed and ran after the excited pup.
Unseen to the two brothers or the pup, two ladies stood under a tree. They were a pair of angels and were observing the situation. The younger one, a redhead, smiled as she watched Fang play with the rest of the group.
"Isn't he a cute little dog? He looks like he's having fun with those two boys. And they look so happy chasing after him. I don't see a problem here, Tess."
An older woman with black hair with just a dash of grey in it spoke. "I know this might sound strange, Angel Girl, but your assignment isn't any of the humans. And that little puppy isn't any normal dog, he's a baby wolf." She nodded in Fang's direction. "He might look like a happy puppy, but deep down, he's still hurting from his mother's death."
"Tess, wouldn't that be better for Andrew to help with?"
Tess looked at the family. "Normally yes, but Andrew is dealing with a more serious matter. So, Monica, you get little Fang."
Fang picked up speed, which soon had Levi and Brody winded. Brody shook his head in amazement. "Man, this little guy's fast!"
Levi agreed. "You'd almost think he was a police dog!" The two brothers followed Fang all over without the little wolf slowing down even once. Before long, he led them into the nursery where Kendall was talking to a friend of hers from the Angel Grove police department. The two humans looked up as the Romero brothers entered right on Fang's tail. The cowboy smiled. "Got you now!"
Fang growled at them, the hat still firmly clenched in his mouth. Brody managed to circle behind him while Levi closed in on him. "NOW!" Brody tried to grab Fang from behind while Levi dove at him from the front. At the last second, the pup dove out of the way causing the two brothers to collide. They collapsed in a heap. Fang smiled and walked onto Levi's chest and wagged his tail in his face, before placing the hat back on the cowboy's head.
Kendall shook her head in amazement, suppressing a laugh. "Incredible. Two ninjas outsmarted by a puppy!" The police officer smiled at Fang. "He's got good instincts. How old is he?"
"About 4 months".
The officer looked the pup over. "And what breed is he?"
"Gray wolf".
"You guys have a baby wolf living with you?"
"We found him wandering out alone. His mother was killed by a farmer."
"What about his father?"
"We don't know."
"And what's his name?"
"Fang".
Brody helped his older brother to his feet. "I'll tell you one thing. Based on his speed and instincts, you'd almost think he was a police dog."
The officer looked at the pup who was confused. "Really?"
Levi dusted himself off. "Hey by the way, who are you?"
The cop stepped forward and extended his hand. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Sergeant Mario Sanchez, Angel Grove police department."
"And how do you know Kendall?"
"We worked together on a case together. She's been a special consultant to the AGPD for a few years now."
Kendall could sense Levi's apprehension. "Levi, Sgt. Sanchez is a good friend of mine. We can trust him."
Sgt. Sanchez kneeled down to Fang's level and scratched the curious pup behind the ear, causing him to smile and wag his tail. "You know, I'd like to try and see exactly how good this little guy is." He stood up. "There's a program that the AGPD runs that recruits pups to possibly be future police dogs. I'd like to have Fang try a few exercises and see if he might qualify."
All of a sudden, Charlie walked in. "Qualify for what?"
Kendall turned towards Charlie. "A program that would train him to maybe become a police dog."
"Woah, wait a minute. Fang's only a few months old. He's just a puppy."
"Charlie, he outsmarted Levi and Brody and outran them. I think he's got the intelligence for it, and definitely the speed."
Brody rubbed the small bruise on his head. "He took Levi's hat and caused us to crash into each other when we tried to corner him."
Charlie nodded, "I'll tell you what. We'll let him try out these exercises, but if you do decide he qualifies, he can't start until he's at least a year old, agreed?"
"Agreed." The two shook hands. "I'll contact my K-9 unit coordinator and we'll set something up." Sanchez turned around and started to leave. Kendall followed him.
"Mario, I'd like to make one small request for this test on behalf of the family. I'd like it to happen here on the Animarium. Fang might be intelligent, but the loss of his mother has made him really nervous in outside surroundings."
"I don't see a problem with that. I'll call you when I have a date set up. And I promise, we'll make this just as fun for him as a game." He got into his vehicle and drove off
Later that afternoon, the group was having dinner in the main area of the nursery. Tyler, Shelby Chase, and Koda had joined them, along with Michael Phelps, who Fang had developed a special bond with. Tommy also joined them. Kendall and Charlie had brought everybody up to speed on the day's events. Most of the group was excited at the opportunity that had presented itself to Fang. Koda was confused at what a police dog was, but Chase explained it to him.

After dinner, the group had decided to head out to the temple area for some sunset fun. Fang was curled up next to the fire when a noise attracted his attention. He got up and headed to the edge of the temple and saw some leaves rustle. He started to growl and bark at the bushes. Charlie got up and noticed Fang was on edge.
"What is it, boy?" the rest of the group got up. Shelby, Tyler, Chase, Koda, Levi, and Brody got up and also stood behind Fang. Suddenly, the plants parted and out stepped a large gray wolf. Fang stopped growling and looked at the newcomer nervous. The adult wolf looked at Fang and moved closer. Fang backed up slowly, afraid the large wolf would attack him. But to everyone's surprise, a tear ran down his face and he started licking and nuzzling Fang.
Brody spoke up. "It looks like that wolf knows Fang."
"He should." A voice came from behind them. Suddenly Cole appeared.
Tommy smiled. "Cole. What's going on here?"
Cole stepped forward. "Guys, this is Fang's father, Granite."
Fang looked up at the big wolf. Daddy?
Granite nodded. Yes, little one. I've been looking for you for a long time. Granite laid down on the ground and nuzzled Fang while the pup buried his head in his dad's fur, sobbing. Cole continued.
"Granite followed Fang and his mother away from their den when the fire started. However, they got separated at some point, and Granite couldn't find them. He was about to give up when I appeared to him and told him his son was still alive and was being taken care of. He is aware of Fang's mother's death, but he wanted to come find Fang so he didn't lose that part of his life."
Tyke spoke up. "But daddy, does that mean Fang has to go away?" the rest of the group looked at Cole, the same question on all their minds.
"When Granite and I talked, I asked him what he would do when he found Fang. He promised me he wouldn't take Fang away from his new friends. So it looks like Granite's going to be joining you here." The group smiled, excited to have another new friend.

Later that night, Fang and Granite settled into the bed that Charlie and Princess Shayla had set up for them in a corner of the nursery. Granite nuzzled his son, tears of happiness forming in his eyes. He looked up through the nursery windows, and in his mind, he could see Fang's mother smiling down at them. Granite smiled and closed his eyes and fell asleep. In another corner of the Animarium, Cole watched the newly reunited father and son sleeping together. Memories came to him of happy times with little Tyke, including introducing him to Red for the first time, special trips all over the country, and many more. The Red Wild Force Ranger let a tear roll down his face. He turned away and headed back the way he came. Suddenly, a figure stood in front of him. It was another angel, a male who looked like he was in his mid-40s. This was no ordinary angel; he was Andrew, the angel of death.
"Hello, Cole"
Cole smiled. "Andrew. What are you doing here?"
"Checking up on you. You know you've done a lot of good things lately. Making sure Fang stayed safe until the others found him, reuniting him with his father. You know we're all really proud of you, Cole."
"Thanks, Andrew, but seriously, why are you here?"
"Just checking on you."
"Why's that?"
"Well, when you were alive, you did a lot of good things. You were a Power Ranger, you were an awesome veterinarian. And you were also a great father. And ever since you died, you've continued to be a great person. Helping deliver the babies, keeping Fang safe, when he got separated from his mother, the list goes on and on. But just now, I saw something that I've never seen in a deceased person. I saw sadness."
"I can't help it, Andrew! Seeing Fang and Granite back together, it just kills me that I can't be back with my own son! He has missed me so much! And all these small visits are only doing so much. It's no substitute for him having his dad!"
"Cole, I think we need to go talk for a while." Andrew and Cole walked away and vanished.

The next morning, Fang and Granite spent time playing all over the Animarium. After lunch, they were out walking around the field with Brody, Levi, Tyler and Charlie when an Angel Grove Police Department SUV pulled up. The door opened and out stepped Kendall along with Sgt. Sanchez and three other officers.

Sgt. Sanchez walked up to Levi. "Levi, good to see you again." He shook Brody's hand along with Charlie's and Tyler's. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Lt. Fabrice, he's one of our senior K-9 handlers. He's here to help me run some of the tests with Fang." Fabrice shook each of their hands.
"And this is Rafael, he's another one of our K-9 handlers." Rafael shook everyone's hand.
"And finally, this is Monica, she's our K-9 unit recruitment coordinator." Monica smiled and shook everyone's hand.
Mario saw Fang sitting up next to Tyler. "And there's our special pup." He started to walk towards Fang, but then Granite jumped in front of the pup and started to growl at Mario, who backed away.
Charlie walked up to Granite. "Easy boy! These people are friends. They've heard great things about Fang and want to see how he does with some games." Charlie turned to Mario. "I'm sorry, Sergeant. This is Granite, Fang's father. He was only reunited with Fang last night, and as you can see he's a little protective." Mario nodded, and knelt down in front of Granite. "I promise, Granite. We won't hurt Fang. We just need to see how good he is at certain things." Granite nodded, and backed up and Fang walked up and licked Mario in the face. Mario smiled.
"Okay, now that the formalities are over, let's head to the gym." Kendall, the police officers, and the two wolves hopped into the police cruiser. Charlie and the three Rangers loaded up into Crusher and led the way to the gym in Angel Grove. Inside the gym they headed into a special area with a running track, an obstacle course, and several miscellaneous objects.
Monica placed a tiny sensor on Fang's collar and smiled at the pup who licked her in the face. She smiled at him and kissed him on the head.
"Godspeed, little one." She whispered in her ear. Fang's little tail wagged with excitement, getting an even bigger smile from Monica. She walked back behind a table where Kendall had setup her laptop. Rafael was holding a stopwatch and waiting at the end of the track. Mario watched behind Kendall while Fabrice was holding a video camera. Kendall made a few adjustments on her laptop. Charlie and the others were seated in some bleachers a few feet back from the track, Granite watching his son intently. Mario had requested that Granite be put on a leash so he couldn't interfere with the tests.
Kendall nodded to Mario, who turned to Fabrice. Fabrice spoke into the camera's microphone.
"Ok, this is K-9 puppy training test number one. Subject is Fang, a seven month old Gray wolf."
Mario took a deep breath.
"OK, Fang, when I say go, run as fast as you can all the way down to Rafael." Fang nodded and got into a ready position.
"Ready, set, GO!" Fang took off like a shot and tore down the race track at a nearly blinding speed. He was going so fast that Fabrice almost lost him on the camera. He raced past Rafael who stopped the watch as soon as the pup crossed the line. Fabrice and Rafael ran over to the table.
"Okay, let's see what we've got here. Rafael what was his time?" Rafael looked at the stopwatch and did a double take.
"5.3 seconds!" Everyone looked up at Rafael. Mario looked at Kendall.
"What did the sensor say about his speed?"
Kendall looked at the sensor data. "37 miles an hour! That's the top speed for an adult wolf!" Everyone looked at Fang in shock.
Monica walked over to Fang and removed the sensor from his collar. "You're a fast little one, aren't you, Fang?" The pup chirped at her, gave her a kiss and then ran over to Granite, who licked his son proudly. Kendall recorded the results and then went over to the obstacle course with Mario, Fabrice, and Rafael to adjust it for Fang so it wasn't as dangerous. After everyone was all set up, Fang was sent through the course, and surprised everyone again by blazing through it in 45 seconds.
Mario shook his head in amazement. "Hey, guys let's take a break for lunch and then we'll do the final test."
The group went into the cafeteria for lunch. And behind the counter was Tess, wearing an apron and smiling. She served up the humans, and then brought out two plates with steak mixed in with dog food. She smiled at Fang and Granite.

"Here you go, babies. Enjoy!"
While everyone was eating, Monica and Rafael joined Tess in the kitchen.
Monica smiled at Fang who was happily enjoying his lunch.
"Tess, he has been doing an amazing job with his testing. I think he's going to make a fine police dog someday."
Rafael nodded. "When he ran the obstacle course, he beat an adult German Shepherd's time!"
Tess nodded. "Yeah, he's doing well with these tests and everything but despite blowing away the times of fully grown and fully trained adult dogs, he's still just a puppy. And he needs to be able to live like a puppy and have fun while he can." Monica and Rafael nodded.
An hour later, the group was back in the gym. Rafael had gotten a towel sprayed with the scent of marijuana. He brought it over by Fang and held it in front of him.
"Ok Fang, sniff!" Fang obeyed and sniffed the towel, then let out a chirp.
"Good boy!" He nodded and passed the towel off to Fabrice, who hid it under a cone in a row of four. Fabrice came back and Rafael took out his stopwatch. "Okay, boy! Go find it!" he started the watch as soon as Fang took off and headed towards the row of cones. Fang sniffed around each cone, then suddenly his ears perked up. He went back towards the second one, sniffed it, and then started chirping at it. Rafael stopped his watch while Mario walked up to Fang and scratched his head. "GOOD BOY!" Fang walked over back to his dad and chirped excitedly.
Mario went over to the table with the other officers. Kendall pulled up all the statistics on her computer.
"This is amazing. He's broken every record set on the tests."
Mario looked back at Fang and Granite. "Well, he's definitely police dog material. Go ahead and add him to the roster for next year's class. I'll tell them." He walks over to the group. "Well, everyone, with that amazing performance, I'm pleased to inform you that Fang has passed all the tests and will be added to next year's class of K-9 officer trainees." The family went nuts and started to cheer happily. Fang barked happily. Granite wasn't so sure and started to walk away. Tess noticed him walk away and nodded to Rafael, who headed off after him. Meanwhile, Charlie looked around and noticed that Granite was missing.
"Hey, where'd Granite go?"
Tess walked up. "Don't worry, Charlie. Granite just needs some time to himself."
In the hallway of the gym, Granite sat down next to a wall. He was trying to sort out his thoughts. On one hand, he was happy that his son would someday become a police dog, but on the other hand, he was afraid that something bad would happen to him.
"Your son did a heck of a job out there, Granite."
Granite looked up and saw Rafael standing there. He looked at the young guy and sensed something. "Can you understand me?"
Rafael nodded. "Yes I can. Now, let's cut to the chase. I know you have concerns about Fang possibly becoming a police dog, but you have to realize that this is something he wants. And besides, he wouldn't start training until next year, so he'll have plenty of time to enjoy being a puppy."
"But he's my son. I don't want to lose him like I lost his mother."
"Granite, she died because she was trying to get him food and keep him alive. She died for him."
"She did?" his eyes started to water. Rafael knelt down next to him and put his hand behind the wolf's head.
Rafael nodded. "And your son has a very special mission ahead of him. Right now, he's to continue to being a puppy and to have fun. But he will become a police dog and protect others."
"How can you understand me when all the other people hear is barks?"
Suddenly, a bright glow enveloped Rafael. "Because I'm an Angel, sent by God. God has made it possible for us to communicate."
"What does God want from me?"
"He wants you to let Him use Fang as his warrior. He's going to spend the rest of this year being a puppy and having so much fun with his family. But then next year, he will join the K-9 training academy."
"I want to join the K-9 program too." Granite said confidently.
Rafael smiled. "God can always use more warriors. Now what do you say we get you tested too?"
Granite nuzzled Rafael, sobbing into the angel's neck.
Meanwhile, Fang was being congratulated by the whole group. Charlie looked towards the hallway and smiled as he saw Rafael re-enter the room with Granite by his side. Rafael smiled and Fang nuzzled his dad.
"Sgt. Sanchez, I just had a little chat with Granite, and he would like to apply for the K-9 program too."
Everybody in the room did a double take. Mario turned to Kendall and nodded.
"Ok, let's do this."
Monica walked over and attached a sensor to Granite's collar. He looked at her.
"You're an Angel too, right?"
She nodded. "Make your son proud."
Granite nodded back. Everybody watched as he took off down the track and clocked a time just a couple tenths of a second behind Fang's. In the obstacle course, he only made a brief stumble, but still clocked in a time just a second behind his pups. And in the final test, he found the towel within 2 seconds of Fang's time. Everyone was amazed. From a distance, Tess and Andrew were watching. The older angel shook her head.
"He wasn't supposed to do that. Now the police are going to have to recruit him AND Fang." Andrew nodded. "Then I guess you have your own job to do."
Later that afternoon, a special celebration was planned at the Angel Grove police department. The whole family, with the exception of Red, Nalita, and the cubs, gathered in a conference room. Monica, Andrew, and Mario stood on one side of the room. Charlie and the Rangers stood on another side of the room.
A few minutes later, Tess was seated behind the bench. She picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Monica. Monica went behind the podium.
"Today we are here to celebrate a very special day for the Angel Grove Police Department. We are here to induct two special animals into the Angel Grove Police Department's K-9 program." As if on cue, Rafael walked in with Granite on a leash. Charlie handed Fang over to Mario, who placed him on the ground next to his dad. The two wolves sat down.

Behind the bench, Tess pulled out a piece of paper. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to induct the first wolves into the Angel Grove Police Department's K-9 division." She nodded to Mario. "Sergeant Sanchez, proceed."
Mario nodded. "Fang, for displaying outstanding abilities in your training and playing, we are pleased to induct you in the K-9 division's development and training program, beginning next year. In the meantime, you are hereby given the rank of cadet." He pinned a small patch on Fang's collar, and shook the pup's paw. "Congratulations, Cadet." Fang barked in excitement. Mario went back to the podium.
"And Granite, in recognition of you completing the prescribed K-9 training course set forth by the Angel Grove police department, you are hereby certified as a K-9 officer with the rank of Sergeant." Mario pulled out a collar from the podium and held it up for everyone to see.
"This collar was originally made by Kendall Morgan for Granite to welcome him to the Animarium, but we decided to make a small addition." He pointed to the Sergeant's rank patch on the collar, then placed the collar around the wolf's neck, and shook his paw. "Congratulations, Sergeant." The room erupted in cheers and applause, along with chirping and barking from the two wolves.
A little while later at the Animarium, everyone was celebrating the special accomplishments of the two wolves. Preston was performing a magic show, and several of the other Rangers were dancing to some party music. Granite would have another month before he was officially activated, and he would spend the evenings at home on the Animarium. It had been arranged that Mario would be his handler, since the two had developed a bond during the training sessions. Andrew, Tess, Rafael, and Monica watched the scene. Monica smiled.
"Tess, I have a feeling that both Granite and Fang are going to make excellent police dogs."
"Well, you know what they say, Angel Girl. Like father, like son."
Rafael smiled. "Granite is going to make an excellent partner for Mario."
Monica looked at Rafael. "You enjoyed that little talk you had with him, didn't you, Rafael?"
"I did. Fang is really happy to have his dad back in his life."
Andrew turned towards the top of a hill, and saw Cole standing there, watching the scene below. The other angels followed his gaze. Monica looked at Tess.
"What is Cole doing here?"
"Cole is doing what he does best: looking out for others. But now he needs someone to look out for him."
Before Monica could say anything further Andrew headed for the hill.

In the next part, entitled "Divine Intervention" A combination of the magic of the Animarium and assistance from the Angels, brings about a miracle for Cole and his family. It will also feature the song Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman.