General Parvo paced around the dark, cold headquarters that he called home for the time being. He cleared his throat, put his hands behind his back, and faced the audience of people that he had called here, the business entrapenors, the megaconglamorates, enimies of the armed forces, even a couple of megolomaniacs that were good friends of his. "Gentilemen," he began, "after lots of studies and experiments, I, General Parvo, and my assistant, Commander Storm, have finally developed something that we both know for sure will finally bring about the takeover of this Earth, and give most of us the desired revenge on the Army that I know we have all craved."
"Well, I do hope this WILL work," one of the men called out.
"Wasn't Storm in a mental institution for life?" another one called out.
"You'd be surprised what you can do if you know the right people," Parove explained. "Now, I'm telling you all, with both me and Storm together this plan cannot fail!"
"It better not," another one added. "After all, over the years we have invested in your work and your experiments with this..this.." he said, unsurely waving his hand in front of his transdogmafier that he had on display.
"Transdogmafier," he said.
"Yes..well...this so far has yet to aspire to our expectations. All this has done is managed to humanise your dogs..but they have not been exactly friendly," to demonstrate his point he stetched out his hand to one of his dogs, who promptly tried to attack it.
"Well, that's because they only obey me," the General said. "But, I assure you all, THIS experiment will be different."
"See that it is," said another one. "We have all invested our hard-earned money, not to mention our time here with you for this new experiment, so we all do hope this works."
"It will," he said. "Gentilemen, behind those doors," he then pointed to the big double doors that were right behind them," is my newest creation, a terror beyond your wildest dreams. You will see it on the count of one. Ten..nine.." he began to count down as the men removed their chairs and had an isle formed. "Two..one..NOW!" he said. Immidiately the huge doors opened and out stepped...the President of the United States. The men stared, not able to believe what they saw.
"THIS is your creation?!" one of the men said. "The President?! What is he doing here..HOW did he get here?!"
Parvo allowed himself to smile. "That's because he's NOT the President!" To demonstrate he walked to his creation and pulled out a medal around his neck, the President didn't even twitch. "This, gentilemen, is a full-bred, full-featured mechanical clone. His name is..." he checked the medal. "7-5151875221188. Despite being mechanical, gentilemen, he is made of the finest human skin, complete with bones and blood pilfered from hospitals and funeral homes. In fact, this is the same blood type as the President, cortesy of my own computer program. Gentlemen, with this program and our ability to pilfer all kinds of things, we can, and have already started, cloning all the world leaders and their servents, and, even, gentlemen, their dogs."
"Their dogs," one of the men laughed. 'Now, what is so special about a bunch of pooches?"
Parvo smiled, "You will soon see, gentilemen, you will soon see."
"See that we do," one of the other men said, getting up from his chair. "We shall come back in a week, to see these clones. We trust you will not let us down..not like the many other times. See that THIS time our money will not have been spent in vain. Good day to you."
The halls of the White House were blazing over with excitement. After all, it wasn't every day the Prime Minister of Great Britain came over for a visit. He and his wife would be staying with them for about three days, and the Bushes were literally bending over backwards to show them and their comrades who came over with them the best possible American form of hospitality, starting with the Grand Ball they had organized and were now running efficently.
Secretly, Laura congradulated herself on the whole idea she and George had had to throw a real authentic English Ball in the Main Room of the White House. All the guests, English and American, were enjoying themselves tremendously, and the Prime Minister had personnally come over to thank Laura for this nice welcome and to complement on the fine decorating job. Even Laura had to admit, it was a nice job the committee did, she would have to give them a raise later.
She had tried to be the best possible hostess, even giving permission for the Prime Minister's wife to bring along her favorite pet, her collie. She was hopelessly attached to the dog and just couldn't bear to leave her at home. Laura said she didn't mind, after all, she had a dog as well, they could play in the backyard. She was greatly relieved when Hunter took to his new playmate immidiately, it was like they'd known each other already and ran off to play. She thanked God they had gotten along so well, it would have been an absolute DISASTER if they fought!
George came to his wife just then and tapped her on the shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Hello, Mrs. Bush," he said.
Laura smiled, "Yes, Mr. Bush?"
"Ya know,I really like the way this Ball has turned out, everyone seems to be having a good time."
"Thank God for that!"
"Yeah. Hey, you seen the dogs anywhere?"
"When last I saw them, they were out in the backyard playing. Why, afraid Hunter's gonna be a bad boy?"
"He better not be," George smiled, "otherwise, he's grounded. I don't feel like paying puppy support," Laura laughed. "But seriously, the Prime Minister just told me the strangest thing."
"Yeah?"
"I was telling him how Hunter's a good boy, but sometimes he can disappear for a while, just goes off on little adventures sometimes, and he tells me HIS dog does the same thing!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, little 'outings' his wife calls them. Ya know, she picked her dog up from the same place we picked up Hunter, ya know that?"
"Really? Wonder if they did recognise each other?"
"Could be!" Suddenly, an old fashioned English waltz began to play. George smiled. "Mrs. Bush, may I have the honor of this dance?"
"I'd be delighted, Mr. Bush!"
Far away from the party scene, but not too far that they couldn't see the lights, Hunter and Colleen were admiring the Washington Flower Garden. Hunter was showing Colleen the various flowers that grew there. Both of them had decided to morph into their Cano-Sapien forms so THEY could enjoy the party as well, but they made sure to stay as far away as they could so their masters wouldn't see them, but not too far away that they couldn't hear the music or enjoy themselves. Colleen even took the opportunity to wear a brand new fushia dress and do her hair up for the occasion. Hunter was sure to wear his best suit and brush his hair just right. He tenderly showed her his favorite part of the Garden, the Roses.
"This is all so lovely, Huntie!" Colleen said, amazed. She smiled when she heard the sounds of the Waltz in the background.
"Is that a dance they do in England?" Hunter asked. She nodded happily. "Can you show it to me?" She nodded again.
"You need a very big place to do it."
"I know just the one!" Hunter said as he lead her to the gazebo overlooking the garden. They stepped inside it and Hunter tenderly put one arm around her waist and took her other hand in his. Slowly they danced to the music as the shining, yellow light from the moon shone down upon them, lighting up the millions of stars over them. Hunter began to get into the romantic music revolving all around them as the moon shone down. He stared gentily at Colleen, into her eyes that reflected the moon in the ebony sky. Her hair shone in the starlight, rippling tenderly in the small wind that was blowing around them. His breath caught in his throat. "SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!" He thought to himself.
Of course, he had ALWAYS thought she was lovely, he had thought so ever since he had first met her, but he was too shy do even act. After all, they lived so far away from each other, he didn't know how a relationship like that could survive, he had never even had a girlfriend before! Yet now,surrounded by this lovely, quiet, romantic atmosphere, he felt his shyness slowly slip away. "DOES SHE FEEL THE SAME?" he thought suddenly.
Quietly he let go of her hand and let it touch her cheek. She slipped her arms quietly around his neck. "SHE DOES!" he thought, running his hand through her lovely, long hair. "SO GO AHEAD," he told himself, "SHE FEELS THE SAME WAY, AND YOU GOT NOTHING TO LOSE!" Quietly, he lifted her head, and slowly, slowly touched his lips to hers. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her as his heart beat loudly in his ears. She buried her hands in his hair, feeling like she was flying.
"FINALLY!!" she thought, her own heart pounding, "FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY!!!" Her dream had come true, this sweet, loyal, kind dog was kissing her, the way she had always imagined it would be. "IS THIS EVER WORTH THE WAIT!" She wasn't even sure if they were still dancing, or if she were dizzy with happiness. Slowly they parted and stared quietly at each other. He moved his lips to her cheek and slowly moved it down her neck, reaching her lips again. The sounds of the Ball, the lights around them, even the gazebo seemed to fade away to oblivion, leaving them floating on a cloud of happiness, all alone.
Parvo travelled along the dark, cold hallway of his present domain, thinking carefully about this plan in every shape and form. He wanted to make absolutely sure THIS time it was completely, totally foolproof, not like those other humilating times. The complete embarressment of failure still haunted his memory just as clear as anything, no matter how many times he had tried to forget. Those terrible, horrid memories burned in his mind and soaked in his brain, quickening his step as he hurried down to the basement of the abandoned building where a newly-built labratory stood.
Groomer turned from where she was standing near a huge, elaborately built machine. A huge, metallic chamber shadowed over the dark woman, who was near a large panel of buttons and switches. Lots of mini culdrons bubbled near and thousands of tubes connected to one huge main chamber. Groomer smiled and saluted her leader as he approached with his clone close behind him.
"Welcome back, Sir. How was the presentation?"
"Well, I got a lot of stares, as well as a lot of questions."
"Don't you worry, Sir. Once we finish with our plans, those people will be SO impressed, they'll be begging to invest the money for our cause."
"I know," Parvo said. "And why is that?"
"Because you are without a doubt the smartest, brightest, and most powerful man to ever show his face around here."
"Correct," he said with an evil smirk on his face. "Now, is our ultimate test clone ready at last?"
"All is ready, Sir."
"Excellent!" He turned to his President clone. "Go to the Clone Room with your brothers and sisters, I shall join you shortly."
"Immidiately, if not sooner," the clone replied. Once he was gone, Parvo turned to Groomer.
"Bring him on, then!" Immidiately Groomer smiled, then pulled open the door of the chamber. A huge amount of thick, white smoke emerged. Once it cleared up a large, muscular being stepped out of the chamber. It was a huge, tall figure that resembled a full-figured man, but covered with yellow hair and had tiny ears and black button eyes. It was, in fact, an exact replica of...Hunter!
Parvo grinned evilly. He knew that this figure was in every aspect a perfect clone. This was made up of the same bone structure, the same blood type, the exact same brain cells even! The only this that was different was the programming in the brain that told the clone that Parvo was the supreme leader and they should only obey him! He congradulated himself on the perfect computer program that enabled him to tap into that geek Shepard's programs and get the information he needed to pilfer the exact same bone structure and blood type for the making of each of the clones. Now all that was needed was to make sure the right kind of information was programmed in the brain. He went to the Hunter Clone. "Now, let's see how much information you have been programmed. Tell me, what is your full name?"
"Hunter, Leader of the Road Rovers," the Clone answered in Hunter's voice.
"Excellent. Now, who are your best friends?"
"Muzzle and Colleen."
"Right. Now, what is Blitz's favorite kind of drink?"
"Peppermint milkshakes."
"Correct. One of your best friends is Colleen. Tell me, what is her favorite food?"
"Sizzling chunks of pork."
"Right. Now a tough one," he said, his eyes twinkling. "What is the secret weapon of the Rovers?"
"We have many, but our most important one is Muzzle."
Parvo smiled. "He scored one hundred percent, and that's it for this round of trivial persuit! Now," he continued. 'Put him in the Clone Room and start getting to work on the next one."
Colleen woke the next morning, feeling like she was in Heaven. She stretched her arms up over her head happily. "WHAT A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE!!" she thought, remembering what had finally happened just last night. She still was unable to believe it, all her dreams, all her fantasies over the months had finally, FINALLY come true! She sighed and sat up, remembering that lovely romantic night. if only the Master hadn't called them back to Headquarters, but he had said he was concerned about something and he thought it best for the Rovers to sleep there tonight. Colleen didn't mind TOO much, it gave her an opportunity to be closer to Hunter! He was right in the next room! Smiling, she threw a robe over herself and raced to the bathroom before Shag had a chance to hog it. Letting the nice, warm water flow happily over herself, she let her mind wander just a few hours back. Ever since she had met Hunter she had dreamed of holding him, kissing him. Lots of other people, Blitz included, had passed this off as just a crush, but she knew what she was feeling was much, MUCH more than that! As she dried herself off, she looked at her smiling, happy face in the mirror as a realization creeped into her mind, she was in love! She was really, truly in love! For the first time in her life, she had fallen in love. She sighed happily. Sure, she might have SAID she felt romantic about some other guys she had once known, but it was nothing, NOTHING like this! Those others weren't Hunter, there was only one of him, and no one else could hold a candle to him!!
As she stepped out of the room, she bumped into Hunter going in. They looked at one another through an akward silence. "Good morning, Huntie," she finally said.
He gave her a shy smile back. "Good morning, Colleen," he replied. For a while they just stood there staring at one another. Slowly Hunter brushed his hand along hers. "So...uh...what would you like me to show you in the White House today?"
"Well...you never finished showing me the Rose Garden."
"OK, garden it is," after a few minutes of just looking into each other's eyes, Colleen realized she was blocking the door!
"Oh! Dreadfully sorry, Huntie," she said, quickly moving out of his way.
"It's alright, Colleen," he said, partly thankful to be out of that. He still wasn't ENTIRELY sure of his feelings. He knew he liked her, he really, REALLY liked her. She was more beautiful, more amazing, more considerate, than anyone he had ever known. Of all the Rovers, aside from Muzzle, he had more in common with her. They had both grown up basically on the streets, no master, hardly anyone to rely on but themselves, having to fend for themselves, with hardly any friend for the longest time, chosen after they had proven their worth.
He had had a crush on her for the longest time, from the very first instant he saw her, but had tried to keep his feelings in for the good of the team. Yet, as he got to know her better, the feelings he had just deepened, but he had tried to control them. "UNTIL LAST NIGHT" a voice in his head said. He blushed at the memory of what had taken place just a few hours ago, how he had buried his hands in her reddish-brown hair, the feeling of her pressed so close to him, how soft her lips were. He just let the water flow and he forgot everything else. He knew he had never, ever felt anything like this before. Was this love? Was he in love? "COME ON, YOU KNOW THE ANSWER!" the voice said. He sighed, it would be so much easier if they only lived closer to one another! Sure, they had Headquarters, but that was mainly for emergencies. He stepped out and wrapped a towel around himself. He didn't know what to do.
At breakfast, Hunter and Colleen set the table while Shag was cooking in the kitchen. He looked at her, wearing her uniform with her hair softly falling down around her shoulders, highlighted by the sun's rays upon her. He wondered if he could even eat. He pulled out a chair for her, but Blitz quickly took it. Blitz proceeded to make another pass at Colleen, and Hunter had to resist the urge to bat him away. As usual, Colleen forgot she even knew Blitz, turned to Hunter, and rolled her eyes. Hunter tried not to laugh. Exile kicked Hunter under the table and raised his eyebrows. he knew what was going on but he didn't say anything. Hunter thanked him silently. Good Ol' Exile!
After breakfast, the Master called the Rovers to the Main Room. "Gather around, Rovers," he began. "I'm afraid my hunch was correct. There is huge trouble brewing near Europe. Someone has been breaking into hospitals and funeral homes and stealing all kinds of things."
"What things?" Blitz asked.
"Things such as bones, blood, DNA.."
"Eww, gross!" cried Colleen.
"Repulsive!" cried Exile.
"Disgusting!" cried Hunter.
"Yes. We need to stop them immidiately. I haven't yet figured out what exactly this person wants with all this stuff, but it can't be good. You must go and stop it, Rovers!"
"We can do it, Master! All right, Rovers, let's hit the road!" With a huge group howl, the team headed for their vehicles. "Blitz, Exile, take Muzzle and go in the Cloud Rover. Colleen, Shag, and I will go in the Land Rover." All nodded, but Hunter noticed that Colleen gave him a look that said clearly, 'Thank you." He smiled at her and they ran to the Land Rover.
As soon as they got to the hospital, they saw exactly what the Master was talking about. A huge, gaping hole was in the back wall of the hospital. Landing the Cloud Rover, Exile, Blitz, and Muzzle hopped out to join their friends who were coming out of the Land Rover.
"This place is creeping me out," Blitz cried. "I hate the sight of vials with all that red liquid!"
"Don't be weired boy," Exile said. The Rovers slowly made their way inside the huge building, keeping close to the shadows. it wasn't easy not to be seen in the large white building. But finally they made their way to the room where the blood and bone marrow was kept, Blitz looking like he might throw up any minute. They paused in the doorway. there they saw Groomer and some Cano-Mutants around the blood samples.
"Eww, gross!!" Colleen cried, making Groomer turn around.
"I would NOT have predicted this!! Let's hit em with all we got, Rovers!"
"Get them!!" Groomer yelled at her own Mutants, and an all-out battle began. Hunter used his super-speed to ward of the attackers, while at the same time he reached behind him and pulled out his pistol. He fired a tennis-ball smoke bomb at several mutants, knocking them out cold. Exile was using his freeze ray to freeze the Mutants. Blitz was having the most fun of all biting them as hard as he could.
Quite a lot of them began to surround Colleen. With her martial-arts prowess she managed to knock off several of them, but she couldn't see from all sides and she DIDN'T see the one who sneaked up behind her and proceeded to slam her into a shelf containing several flasks of water. Groomer smiled to herself when she saw that one of Colleen's legs was bleeding. "Yes, yes, good work, darlings!" She ran to Colleen and quickly grabbed her leg. "Hold still, my dear," Before Colleen could even react, Groomer had squeezed some blood from her leg into a container she held.
Hunter turned when he heard the crash and raced to Groomer, pulling her off Colleen. Groomer just laughed, broke free, and jumped out the window, escaping again. Hunter gasped at seeing Colleen, holding a bleeding leg and soaking wet. He quickly grabbed her and raced back into the Land Rover. He bent down gentily and looked at her wound.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
"Not very much," she replied, staring at the huge gash. "It's not broken."
"Thank God for that," he looked at it. "We'd better put something on it."
"I can do that, Huntie you should get back out there."
"I'm not leaving you like this!" Hunter said. "You'd have to bend over backwards to dress that would, let me help." Quickly he filed a bucket with warm water and got alcahol, neosporin, and a huge bandage. "This might sting, but I have to do it," he reached out his hand. "Go on, dig your paws into mine. I don't care," Gentily, he began to clean her wound. Colleen cringed, it DID sting a bit, but not that much. Yet, she still held Hunter's hand like a lifeline. It was so soft, so trusting, so..him.
He stared at her, into her deep, dark eyes. Suddenly, she seemed to be wearing the fusha dress all over again. She looked so lovely, his breath caught in his throat. Tenderly he finished cleaning out the wound, then unscrewed the alcahol. 'This is gonna hurt, but I gotta do it. Go ahead, squeeze harder, you can't hurt me."
"Is that a challenge?" she asked teasingly. Hunter smiled, she could still joke around at a time like this! He wondered if he would ever stop finding things to admire in her. Finally, he finished and put the bandage on her. For a while, all they did was look at one another.
"You're all wet!" He suddenly realized, noticing that she was covered in water and sweat from the fight. Quickly he went to a drawer, pulled out a towel, and sat next to her. "Come here," he whispered, wrapping her in it. Gentily she leaned against him, feeling the deep muscles that were in his arms circle around her. She closed her eyes, forgetting the battle, forgetting even where they were, forgetting even the sting in her foot, forgetting everything except how wonderful it felt to finally be with Hunter.
"Thank you, Huntie," she whispered, gentily kissing his cheek. Hunter tenderly wrapped her tighter, his usual shyness once again slipping away from him. He ran his hands in her hair, being transported once again to the gazebo in the garden.
"Colleen.." he whispered, the words pouring out of him. "Colleen, I..."
She turned to him. "Yes?"
"I love you." The words fell out almost as easily as dreaming, but as he said them , he knew they were true. 'I know this might not be the right time, or place, but I had to say it now, before I lose my nerve. I love you, Colleen, and I always will."
Colleen felt her eyes fill with tears and she gentily touched his face. "Huntie, I love you, too." Slowly he touched his hand to her face and drew her near. The towel fell to the floor as they lost themselves in a tender, sweet kiss. The kiss deepened as they wrapped their arms tighter around one another. The fight outside, the hospital, even the Land Rover faded away. They were unaware of anything, any time, any place. All they wanted was to hold one another, to never, ever let each other go. Details faded from their minds, it was not the time! They were finally with each other, that was all that mattered.
Suddenly a huge bump jerked them back to reality. Exile quickly popped his head in.
"Forgive me if I interrupt, but we got HUGE problem out there!" Quickly Hunter and Colleen raced outside. Blitz and Shag were grabbing each other and whining, and Exile looked pooped. Hunter thought.
'Ok, let's see, what can we do. We need something, something that can quickly demoish all these Mutants. He looked at Colleen. They smiled at each other, reading one another's minds.
"LET'S MUZZLE THEM!!" They both said, loosing the strains. Immidiately Muzzle began his work, and in no time at all the Mutants raced off. Everyone cheered as the restrains were put back on Muzzle.
As Blitz, Shag, and Exile were thanking Muzzle and congratulating each other, Hunter pulled Colleen to a quiet corner of the room. There he gave her another deep kiss. " What I said to you, in there? It's true, every word of it. I just didn't know how to say it...until now. I love you. I know we live so far away from each other..but I can't deny this anymore."
"Neither can I. I am wiling to try, Huntie. I love you, and no distance in the world can separate us."
He nodded. 'None at all," he smiled. 'And hey, we do have tonight. These next two nights and no one can take that away from us! Now, if I remember correctly, I did promise you a Rose Garden!"