It was a fine day in Petropolis for most especially since it was liberated and took a good few months to rebuild. One such place was TUFF HQ which had it's logo running down each of it's four sides. Inside, Kitty was in her office working on some paperwork for Herbert. Kitty Katswell was one of the best agents and she was promoted to be the replacement for Herbert once he was decommissioned. Herbert Dumbrowski was a flea who ran a smooth ship, but being elderly and forgetful, a new chief had to be named. All was still for a bit until Kitty started noticing someone was missing. She stopped for a minute and did a look around.
"Where's Dudley?", she asked Tammy the secretary.
Tammy was a tan rabbit who often helped agents when they had personal problems and she checked her files.
"Well, Dudley appears to be running a little late today.", Tammy reported with a smile.
Kitty sighed. Dudley Puppy was a white dog and Kitty's ex-partner. Usually the only thing he ever wore was a black t-shirt and nothing else. But all that changed after a while when Zero came along. Zero was a hell hound and had taken the world under his sway. Just the mere memory made her spine shiver. She had faced him before and he was certainly a devil incarnated. Dudley had bargained with him and Zero turned him into one of his monstrosities to terrorize people. She managed to escape and find a fellow agency named ULTRA. There, they found help and were able to liberate Petropolis from Zero's control, but the black devil was still out there causing seriously nasty trouble. Now things had gone back to normal( if one would call it that). Just when she was done remembering, Dudley came in through the elevator. He was wearing his black shirt and then he stumbled when he tried walking over. Kitty saw he was wearing pants and she knew too well that Dudley and pants didn't mix well.
"You're late.", Kitty told him as he made his way over.
"Sorry Kitty.", Dudley said rather nervous, "I just had a little trouble with my pants."
Kitty sighed again. Stuff like this happened whenever Dudley was around. Even though his shenanigans caused some grief, she knew Dudley was special. According to a scan, Dudley was the perfect blend of every domesticated dog known and their abilities such as a German shepherd's courage, bloodhound nose,greyhound speed, malamute stamina, and other such abilities although Kitty would prefer that he made more thought out decisions rather than just rush into things. Just then the alarm went off. Kitty and Dudley made it to the monitor and saw Dark Wolf appear on screen. Dark Wolf was the director of ULTRA and now that Zero had control over most of the world, his agency was deployed on behalf of the United Nations.
"This is Dark Wolf to TUFF. Over?"
"Over where?", Dudley asked.
"You say that to end transmission.", Kitty told him.
"Anyway", Dark Wolf continued, "we just got a hold of an enemy transporting operation down in the Nevada desert. My top team has been deployed and will need further assistance. They'll fill you in when you meet up with them. Dark Wolf out."
Dark Wolf faded from the screen and Kitty turned to Dudley.
"Well Dudley, looks like another mission on our hands.", she told him.
Dudley said nothing. He was too busy getting used to his pants. Kitty just held him til the tube system sent them down to the Tuffmobile. Kitty took the driver's seat since Dudley tended to drive a little rashly. And in less than a minute, the car shifted into flight mode and was off to Nevada.
Jeremiah and Iris had usual desert missions before, and this one was no different. Jeremiah and Iris were Dark Wolf's top operatives and number one team. Jeremiah was wearing his usual bluish gray sneaking suit, black gloves and combat boots as he normally wore as a default setting. His white fur was brushed and his brown hair was rimmed by a black headband. Iris being a cat wore similar, but different kind of sneaking suit. Her's was scarlet and she wore white gloves that came to her elbows and black high heels. Despite this, both operatives had matching utility belts and they got along rather well. At this moment, Jeremiah and Iris were going to a meeting point where Dark Wolf had told them to go for special help.
"Any idea what Zero's up to down in these parts?", Iris asked Jeremiah.
Before being a secret agent, Jeremiah was once one of Zero's goons, but he went rouge and now being called a renegade. That would explain why Zero's goons felt little to nothing while fighting him. Due to this, Jeremiah had vital experience in fighting and knowing how Zero's forces operated.
"Not sure.", Jeremiah said over his shoulder as he continued to drive, "But we'll know soon enough. Zero had quite an outpost back there. Too bad they bailed before we got close enough to get anything good."
Jeremiah was driving his Ultra-cycle which really had quite the arsenal with Iris seated behind him and holding on. So far, all that was around was the desert as far as they could see. Jeremiah turned a handlebar of the cycle and it then flew into the air and shifted into flight mode. That was when Jeremiah's radar went off. Iris used the rear view mirrors to see the Tuffmobile flying behind. As the vehicles neared each other, Jeremiah could see that Dudley was sleeping and Kitty was noticing them.
After a brief moment to get Dudley up, Kitty started a conversation.
"So what's in Nevada?"
"So far, Zero's transporting merchandise from Vegas, but we don't know what.", Jeremiah stated, "That's why we're going in and see what's up."
Kitty got the details pretty well. Dudley however did not.
"So we just see what Zero's taking back to his domain?", Dudley asked, "Where's the fighting?"
"We fight only when we need to.", Jeremiah said sternly, "This is a scouting and sabotage based mission. And for your sake Puppy, you had better not louse it up."
Jeremiah pulled away as his bike did a full spin in the air and dived. Dudley watched, but not in awe.
"Show-off.", he muttered to himself.
Jeremiah always seemed to be the better spy than Dudley, but who could blame him? Jeremiah showed Dudley some fighting styles, but Jeremiah's way of "teaching" wasn't exactly fun. One time, Jeremiah had his class of rookies crawl under barbed wire which wasn't all that bad until Jeremiah electrified it. He loosened up a little after Dudley showed some potential, but not much. As the two teams made their way back to the desert's surface, Dudley and Kitty got out while Jeremiah's bike shifted into a metal cube that could be used as a paperweight.
"Do we have to do a mission in this heat?", Dudley asked as he wiped sweat off his brow.
Jeremiah ignored him as Iris and him( who both looked cool as cucumbers) did a look around. Dudley was about to walk over, but Kitty stopped him.
"We're supposed to be working with them.", she informed him, "You will show them respect."
Just then, Kitty got a call on her communicator and she answered.
"Kitty?", Herbert asked over the transmission, "We need you back at HQ. You are the new chief after all til my decommission."
Kitty sighed.
"Coming Herbert.", she said as she hung up.
Dudley looked crushed and Kitty thought fast.
"Hey, I'll be back faster than you think.", she told him.
Dudley felt a little better, but not a lot as Kitty got back in the car, and drove off. Jeremiah noticed Kitty wasn't around and he made his way over.
"Alright, listen up", he said harshly, "we're going into Vegas to see what it is that Zero's sending back to him."
Iris understood perfectly, but Jeremiah kept his eye on Dudley.
"Any shenanigans from you, and I'll have you down for fifty push ups every morning for a month.", he threatened.
From the look on his face, even Dudley didn't argue. Jeremiah also noticed Dudley was wearing pants , so he eased up a bit.
"So it's just the three of us?", Dudley asked.
"Not quite.", a voice answered.
Dudley, Jeremiah, and Iris turned to see Dorian materialize out of thin air, but Jeremiah and Iris both knew that he was just removing stealth. Dr. Dorian Kaiser was Jeremiah's third group member and the brains from the looks of it. He hardly left his laboratory, but in certain cases he made exceptions. Instead of glasses like most smart guys wore, Dorian wore goggles, an orange polo shirt, blue jeans and sandals. But what made Dorian stand out was the metal harness he wore under his lab coat ant the four mechanical tentacles attached to it. Dorian's reddish brown hair was combed by one as the other three just moved every now and again.
"So, done inventing Doc?", Jeremiah asked.
Doc was Dorian's nickname and he was used to it.
"For now.", Dorian stated, "How are those body thermos doing?"
"Body thermos?", Dudley asked.
One of Dorian's tentacles reached over and hooked a small device on Dudley's shoulder. After a press and a turn, Dudley felt his body get cooler.
"As long as you wear this, you'll stay at 98.6 degrees.",Dorian told him, "That's room temperature."
Dudley looked perplexed.
"What's room temperature?", he asked.
"Never mind that boys, we got work to do.", Jeremiah said clearly.
"Of course.", Dorian stated as he pulled a small sphere from his lab coat pocket and tossed it into the air high. It hovered up there for a minute, then came back down into Dorian's hand and printed off a piece of paper with Morse code on it.
"Our target's in a Vegas casino."Dorian reported.
Normally Vegas was a place that was full of light in the evenings. Now that Zero took over, it was more like an enormous ghost town. As the four agents made their way down the rugged and broken sidewalks, tumbleweeds blew by in the dusty desert breeze. It was quiet, a little too quiet for some but Jeremiah's team had experience in this. Dudley on the other hand was still having trouble walking in his pants. Every time he tried to keep up, he fell over.
"Pants are causing too much trouble!", he cried out, "Gotta get them off!"
Dudley bit down on the seat of his pants, but was stopped when Jeremiah(who had made his way over in record time) pulled him off the ground.
"What's the problem now?", Jeremiah said harshly.
"My pants are causing me trouble.", Dudley complained, "I really think that-"
"Your pants stay on.", Jeremiah interrupted, "Just keep up and leave the thinking to me. And don't yell, you'll let our enemies know we're here."
Jeremiah noticed Dudley's tail wasn't sticking out of his pants so he made a quick slit and Dudley's tail popped out before he turned Dudley's head to see it.
"Satisfied?"
Dudley felt it was best not to answer. Jeremiah took that as a 'yes' and caught up with his team with Dudley right behind( he was doing better now that his tail was visible to him at least). After walking and scanning for several hours, it was getting close to sundown. Normally the lights would go up, but everything remained dark and getting darker. Jeremiah's team quickly got their night vision lenses on while Dudley was trying to find some night vision goggles. But they had no time for chatting because the sound of moving cars was heading their way. They jumped into nearby alleys and watched as several trucks drove by carrying what seemed like a lot of rubble. After the trucks disappeared into the darkness, the agents came out again. Heading in the direction the trucks came from, they turned a corner or two and then saw something worth seeing. Most of the Vegas structures were being torn down and rebuilt into some kind of gateway and knowing Zero, it was one that lead to his domain. Several androids were patrolling around while above near the gate, Damien, Zero's second in command, seemed to be overlooking things. Just seeing him made Dudley feel uneasy. Damien was a dark gray monster wolf that Dudley once turned into. And unlike Dudley, Damien wore dark pants, and his red eyes were penetrating like his master's. He also wore a large dark trench coat and he was in deep conversation for the moment. Just then more trucks came by, and several large cranes lifted out large bundles of mechanical parts and other cranes dropped in debris back into the truck before the truck drove away and the next truck in line took it's place. But what were they up to? Dorian activated his stealth field which covered the group before they moved in for closer inspection.
Damien looked on and it was clear to see he wasn't pleased.
"Zero has me working here to the bone, and for what?!", he yelled, "Transporting the stuff and letting my genius go to waste?!"
"Oh stop complaining already.", Galaril said calmly as he materialized nearby.
Galail was a nightmare horse from his black body to his flaming red mane, hooves, and eyes. He was wearing dark gray pants like Damien and glowing red markings on his skin. Normally Galaril would wear a trench coat, but now his pants were what he was wearing now a days. Galaril was Zero's adviser, or so he claimed because some of Zero's goons questioned on whether Galaril was trustworthy or not due to Galaril manipulating anyone he could to get his way. And Damien was one of those people.
"I do not have time to deal with your sly words fiend.", he sneered, "And if you're here, this had better be important."
Galaril thought fast.
"How would Zero feel if he knew that you had foes in your midst?"
Damien didn't have to wait for that, he got one of his androids and sent it off to alert the others. By now, Zero called in on the communication crystal Damien had in his pocket.
"Zero to Damien. The last convoy is being deployed to your location. Don't let Galaril get out of hand and don't lose this last batch of material no matter what."
"Understood sir.", Damien reported into the crystal before putting it back in and turning to Galaril, "Now I'm on guard duty. What next?"
"All part of the job, right?", Galaril asked with a shrug.
Damien sighed heavily.
"Don't think I'm letting you off easy Galaril. You have a lot to make up for due to the act you pulled on Dudley."
Galaril looked thoughtful, but he quickly knew Damien was baiting him so he said nothing.
I think we all know what came next. It all started with the trucks being blown and Jeremiah's group( plus Dudley) went on the offensive. Battling on the truck tops against androids, cranes and such, this was now getting good. Dorian was able to hold his own with four opponents at one time. Iris was holding off as well getting her footing. And Jeremiah and Dudley were locked back to back as they fought the circle of foes that had formed around them.
"Now this is more like it.", Dudley said as he whacked an android's head piece clean off and it landed in a dug hole, "Hey, hole in one!"
"Don't mind that, just keep fighting.", Jeremiah said as he cleaved three bots with one swipe, "Good thing I got these babies when I did."
Dudley could relate. Jeremiah had a set of retractable claws that made him even more formidable although he used them for close combat rather than other means. The cranes were good opponents, but the team persevered until fireballs started flying their way. And who was throwing these flames with such accuracy? Damien, that's who. And when Damien saw Dudley, his coat opened into giant bat wings and he flew over with Galaril following. Jeremiah thought fast.
"Iris, take Doc and get this convoy to stop. Dudley and I will take these goons.", Jeremiah called over to Iris who nodded and followed Dorian toward the front after Dorian took a sample of the material the truck was hauling( he would analyze it shortly). Galaril and Damien came on to the truck surface in combat positions and Dudley and Jeremiah got into their own.
"Well, well. How nice to see you boys.", Galaril said smiling fiendishly.
Jeremiah sneer got darker.
"Actions speak louder than words Galaril.", Jeremiah said.
"Indeed.", Damien said.
And that's when things got chaotic. With the truck swerving at most places, it was hard to get footing, but Jeremiah managed. Dudley however had a little difficulty. Engaging these two was trouble enough and with Jeremiah calling down lightning to assist, it was truly a fight that rocked the truck. The fists and elements flew, but eventually, both villains were subdued. But they didn't seem beat. They looked happy.
"Impressive, renegades.", Damien said devilishly, "but we'll have to finish this another time. Zero already has what he wanted from here."
And before Dudley or Jeremiah could react, Galaril opened an infernal portal behind Damien and himself which closed the moment they entered. Luckily, the convoy was stopped and ULTRA had sent back up squads to confiscate the material with Kitty showing up alongside them. As they drove back to Petropolis, Kitty got intel on what went on.
"So, Zero was harvesting radioactive material found in this district?", Kitty asked.
"According to my scan, the material has extreme levels of plutonium that could make explosions more lethal.", Dorian put in, "Luckily I could conduct an anti version of it to make it less effective."
"That's good news, except that Damien and Galaril got away, but they'll be back to run again the cowards.", Jeremiah growled, "And I was hoping to get a little information out of them."
"Well, one place down, and a ton more to go.", Dudley said as he collapsed in his car seat and was out cold.