Disclaimer- The Road Rovers belong to Warner Bros. The characters of Susan and Willy Shepard also belong to Warner Bros. (in the episode "Reigning Cats and Dogs the Master mentions having children). However I have created the names, ages, personalities, etc. of these characters for the purpose of this story. I have not found a reference to the Master having a wife in the show but just to be safe I give Warner Bros. credit for creating Lily Shepard as well but like Willy and Susan Shepard I have created Lily's name, personality, etc. The character Anne is a creation of my imagination and belongs to me.
A Surprise for the Master
The alarm clock was buzzing. The Master reached over to turn it off and looked at the time. It was six o'clock time to get up. As the Master stood up and gathered his clothes his eyes fell on the calendar hanging on his wall.
"No" he thought suddenly overcome by sadness "it can't be almost here already".
Even though he had just awakened the Master suddenly felt very tired. He considered going back to bed but decided against it. The Rovers were at Road Rover Mission Control and the Master knew that they would worry about him if he didn't get up. After making this decision the Master let out a sad sigh. Then he finished dressing and headed toward the kitchen.
When the Master entered the kitchen he found that the Rovers were just starting breakfast. "Good morning Rovers" he greeted them hoping the sadness could not be detected in his voice.
"Good morning Master" the Rovers said in return.
"I have good news" the Master continued. "It seems that no criminal activity has been reported this morning so you have the whole day to yourselves".
As the Rovers cheered at this news the Master turned to go back to his room.
"Hey wait Master" the Rovers' newest teammate Anne said "don't you want some breakfast"?
"No thank you" the Master replied "I'm not hungry yet".
As the Master was speaking Anne got a funny look on her face. "Are you okay Master?" she asked when he was done speaking "you sound strange this morning".
"Oh darn she noticed" the Master thought. Out loud he said "yes I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. Now if you will excuse me I have some work to do". Then before any of the Rovers could say anything more he hurried out of the room.
After the Master had left the Rovers cleaned up the breakfast dishes and talked about how to spend their day. As they talked Hunter noticed that Anne still had a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry about the Master" Hunter said to her. "You heard what he said. He's just tired. I'm sure he'll be better tomorrow".
But the Master was not better the next day. In fact he sounded worse! After he had left the room Anne turned to the other Rovers. "Well" she demanded "do any of you still believe that the Master's problem is only some lost sleep"? The Rovers looked at each other and then back to Anne.
"No" Hunter said finally. "You were right to be worried. The Master didn't sound tired he sounded sad".
"But why is he sad?" asked Colleen.
"I don't know" replied Anne "but I'm going to find out".
"How?" all the rovers asked.
"You'll see" replied Anne.
A short while later Anne was standing outside the door to the Master's bedroom. She knocked on the door and got no answer. Then she tried the door and found it unlocked. Anne opened the door and peeked inside. "Good he's not here" she thought. "Now Master let's find out what has you so upset".
Anne spent the next several minutes searching the Master's room for anything that might explain his strange behavior. As she searched she began to feel guilty about going through the Master's belongings without his permission. "This was a bad idea" she thought "I shouldn't be in here it's wrong and besides I don't even know what I'm looking for". At that moment Anne spotted a picture of a woman and two small children on the Master's bedside table. While she looked at the picture Anne got the feeling that it was what she was looking for. She took a digital camera out of her pocket and took a picture of the picture. Then she quickly left the room.
The first thing Anne did after leaving the Master's room was to find the Rovers. Once they were all together she showed them the picture she had taken.
"So do you think you can find out who the people in this picture are?" she asked Hunter.
"Yes" the retriever mix said hesitantly. "But I don't think its right for us to have that picture without the Master knowing".
"Ja" said Blitz "and you shouldn't have been in his room without permission".
"I know" Anne replied "but I'm really worried about the Master and I didn't know how else to find out what's wrong with him. So Hunter will you try to find out who's in that picture"?
"Yes" Hunter said again. "I will look into it and tell you if I find something".
An hour later Hunter called the Rovers together. "Well guys I found out who the woman in the picture is".
"Who is she?" Anne asked eagerly.
"Her name is Lily Shepard" Hunter replied "she is the Master's wife".
"The Master's wife" the others said shocked.
"That's right. Here see for yourselves" Hunter said as he swung his laptop around for his friends to see. On the screen was an old newspaper article describing the explosion that had taken place at the Master's old lab one year before he had created the Rovers. In the article was an interview with the Master's wife and a picture of her as well. There was no doubt that the woman in the article was the same woman as in the picture.
"Blimey" said Colleen "that's the Master's wife all right". She then took a moment to skim through the article. "Hey look at this" she said pointing to a sentence.
Anne read the sentence which mentioned the date of the Master's wedding anniversary. "That's today's date" she gasped when she was done. "No wonder the Master has been sounding strange it's his anniversary and he can't spend it with his family because they think he's dead".
"Poor Master" said Exile tearing up.
"Rah" said Shag sniffing. And with that both the Husky and the Sheepdog burst into tears.
"Stop that you two" Blitz said disgustedly. "Crying won't help the Master".
"Blitz is right crying won't help" Anne said "but I know what might. Let's go get Mrs. Shepard and bring her back here so she can see the Master again".
"That's a brilliant idea" Colleen agreed.
"Yes it is" said Hunter. "We'll leave first thing in the morning".
After breakfast the next morning the Rovers headed to the Master's home town of Socorro, New Mexico. Once they were in town, they looked up the Master's family's address and headed to the house. When they arrived at the house they walked onto the porch and Anne knocked on the door. After a minute a woman with strawberry-blonde hair answered the door. The Rovers recognized her at once as Lily Shepard.
"Hello may I help you?" the woman asked.
"Yes ma'am" said Hunter "we're looking for Lily Shepard are you her?"
"Yes I am" replied Mrs. Shepard.
"We're the Road Rovers ma'am" Hunter continued "and we would like to talk to you. May we come in"?
Mrs. Shepard nodded and moved aside so the Rovers could enter the house. Once inside the Rovers told her the story of how that had found out about her and asked if she would return to Road Rover Mission Control with them to see the Master. When they finished their story Mrs. Shepard closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm sorry" she said "but there is just no way that your Master is my husband. You see my husband, William, died in an explosion several years ago".
"I know that's what you believe" Anne said "but it's not true. Your husband survived that explosion and a year later he created our team".
"No" Lily Shepard said forcefully "William can not be your Master. He is dead"!
The Rovers spent the next several minutes trying to convince Mrs. Shepard that the Master was her husband but it did them no good.
"Look" said Mrs. Shepard angrily "I am telling you for the last time William can not be your master because he is dead! Now I want you to leave my house immediately"!
Finally convinced that they could not make Mrs. Shepard believe them the Rovers started to leave. As they opened the door they heard a voice call out "wait"! Turning toward the direction of the voice the Rovers saw a girl of about twelve and a boy of about ten enter the room.
"Please wait" the boy said again. Then he turned to Mrs. Shepard. "Mom if these dogs and girl say that Dad is their master you should believe them. After all they are superheroes and superheroes don't lie. Do they Susan"?
"Willy's right Mom superheroes don't lie" the girl replied.
For a moment Mrs. Shepard was quiet. The Rovers could tell from the look on her face that she desperately wanted to believe that what they and her children were saying was true. Finally she let out a sigh. "All right" she said. "We'll go with you. But when we find out that William is not your master you must promise to take us home and never bother my family again". The Rovers promised and then they and their three new passengers headed back to Road Rover Mission Control.
When the Rovers got back to Road Rover Mission Control they took Lily, Susan, and Willy Shepard into the briefing room. A minute later the Master appeared on his balcony.
"Hello Rovers" he said. "Did you enjoy yourselves today"? Then he caught sight of his family. "Oh my" he whispered. Then he asked "Lily, Susan, Willy is that really you"?
"Yes William it's us" Mrs. Shepard answered.
As soon as he heard this the Master ran into the room and happily hugged his wife and children. "It's so good to see you again!" he cried. "But how did you get here in the first place"?
"The Road Rovers brought us Dad" replied Willy.
"Oh really" said the Master looking at the Rovers.
"Yes Master" the Rovers replied.
"Well thank you very much" the Master said. "However I would like to know how you knew I had a family. I don't believe I've ever mentioned it before".
For the second time Anne told the story of how she had found the picture of the Master's family. "You're not angry with me are you Master?" she asked timidly when she had finished.
"No" said the Master. "Just make sure you stay out of my room from now on".
"Now I have a question for you William" said Lily. "How come you never told your Rovers about us or tried to contact us so we would know you were alive"?
Before the Master could answer a scream rang out in the room. Startled the Master, the Rovers, and Mrs. Shepard all turned to see Susan and Willy fearfully backing away from Muzzle who had recognized his young owners and was happily barking and bouncing around them.
"It's alright" the Master told the children. "Scout's just happy to see you. He's missed you too you know".
"That's Scout?" the children asked in disbelief.
"It sure is" the Master said. Then he took off Muzzle's muzzle and straight-jacket so the children could recognize him.
"Hey! That is Scout!" the children cried happily. They rushed up to the rottweiler and hugged him while he licked their faces. Then the children ran around and began happily playing with their dog.
Seeing that the children were all right the Master returned to his wife. "Lily" he asked "do you remember the day I went to get Scout from the people who stole him"?
"Of course William that was the day of the explosion at your lab. I'll never forget that day".
"Well Lily the dognappers were responsible for the explosion. You see their leader wanted the blue-prints to my transdogmafier which is the machine I created the Rovers with. Once he had the blue-prints he caused the explosion in an attempt to make sure he would be the only living person who had that technology. When he started using that technology for evil I knew I had to stop him so I created the Rovers. And of course he knew I had created them since not one else know how to build a transdogmafier. I knew that if this villain could find me he would try to kill me again so I stayed hidden. And I also knew that if he thought you knew where I was he would come after you as well so I decided not to contact you or let my Rovers know about you in case they wanted to contact you".
"I can understand why you were worried William" Mrs. Shepard said when the Master had completed his story. "But what are we going to do now? And don't say we can't see each other again" she said seeing the look on the Master's face "because that is out of the question".
"But Lily it's just too dangerous" the Master protested. "If you are always coming here someone is sure to find out where you are going".
"May I make a suggestion Master?" asked Exile. When the Master nodded he continued. "You are worried about your family being spotted coming and going from here if they try to visit you right"?
"Yes" said the Master.
"And Mrs. Shepard you do not want to lose contact with you husband"?
"That is correct" replied Mrs. Shepard.
"Well then the only solution I can see is for all of you to live together here".
"Yes I suppose that is the best thing to do" the Master agreed.
"What is the best thing to do?" Susan and Willy asked coming over.
When their parents told them what they had decided the children's eyes grew wide. Then they started jumping around yelling "Hooray we get to live with Dad and the Road Rovers"!
With this decision made the Master spent the rest of the day showing his family around Road Rovers Mission Control. When the Master went to bed that night the last thing he saw was his calendar. As he looked at it he smiled because he knew that his anniversary would no longer be a date that he dreaded.