Half-Breed

Chapter 2: The Hunt

By Emilou AKA Hatashi Kitty

On one the Road Rover Headquarter's computer's screen, there was a map of North America where two red dots were converging. One was Hunter in the Sky Rover, who was moving over the Great Lakes on his way to New York. The second was the rest of the team in the Sonic Rover; having traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and was almost to the East coast. Soon they would meet up, and begin their search for Parvo's ship.

While his group of mutated canines focused on their mission, William Shepherd monitored the tri-state area for any sign of Parvo. He wasn't completely convinced that his old enemy was headed for New York City, but it was the best he could do since the tracking device failed. The other computer screens had multiple windows open, featuring police databases that Shepherd had hacked into earlier. Along with a few of the major police radio signals playing in the background, the scientist hoped he had all his bases covered. On top of that, he was researching medical labs, technology warehouses and other areas that he suspected Parvo would go to for equipment, including anywhere that the kidnapped Dr. Saraaf had recently been. Shepherd felt so stretched in his multitasking that he almost didn't hear Hunter's voice over the radio.

"Hunter to Master. Come in, Master."

Shepherd, with his mind still on his research, pushed the intercom button and said, "I'm here, Hunter. Report."

Hunter's voice came through the speakers with a lot of static, and the police scanners almost drowned him out. "I'm right over New York City, but something is interfering with my controls."

"You're too close to the airport," Shepherd told Hunter, knowing that the radio towers of large airports like the one in New York could affect other electrical equipment.

"Roger that," Hunter replied. Soon after, he asked, "How far away are the others?"

Shepherd glanced up at the map and focused on the tri-state area where they were converging. "They are moving through Massachusetts right now. They should meet up with you within 20 minutes."

"Great," Hunter's voice came through the speaker louder and much happier. "And what should we do once they get here?"

Shepherd didn't even hesitate in his work as he replied, "You are to wait until further orders. I don't want any of you moving around without any idea where Parvo is."

"And if we can't find him?"

At Hunter's question, Shepherd felt a great weight land on his shoulders. He sighed before telling the Road Rover's leader, "If Parvo isn't sighted soon, it might mean that he has deviated from his original direction or has gone over the ocean. If that is the case, then it will be impossible to track him now that his ship contains a cloaking device. I don't want to think this way, but if we don't find him soon, he may have won for today."

Ever since his team had boarded the Sonic Rover and had taken to the sky, Hunter was in constant communication with the others. Their trip (which was immensely shorter than Hunter's) was filled with answering his questions about Milan and the dog fashion show. Blitz was eager to give their leader an ostentatious and lengthy description of his outfit and his part in the show which took up most of the time. However, when all had been told, the golden retriever continued to ask the four cano-mutants questions that ranged from how they were feeling, what they were doing at that time and what the weather was like.

"Poor bloke," Colleen whispered to the three males. "I think Hunty is a little lonely."

"He is acting like busy-body," Exile agreed. "Maybe one of us should join him in Sky Rover."

Shag added his agreement, but the others weren't sure of his exact words. They simply nodded their heads at the sheep-dog's statement as they usually did.

Blitz, on the other hand, blew air through his lips irritatedly. "Hunter will be fine. He's a big strong doggie, not some baby. He's the leader and can handle a few more hours without us." As usual, Blitz talked about Hunter with disdain, but there was also a hint of admiration in his words.

Exile grumpily disagreed with Blitz, starting a small argument between the two.

Colleen seemed to be the only one who noticed the change in Blitz. It was strange to hear the doberman build up Hunter in the same sentence that he tore the leader down. The "running-with-the-pack" instincts comforted her as she realized that Blitz had settling down in his place in their mixed-up group. The German cano-sapien may never stop challenging Hunter as leader of the group, but that was who Blitz was.

As she contemplated the situation, the collie suddenly realized she very much wanted be the one to go with Hunter. Without knowing how the others would react to her enthusiastically volunteering, she withheld her words. Perhaps she could figure out a nonchalant way of getting what she wanted; then perhaps she would finally get to spend some alone time with Hunter.

That thought brought up many feelings that she wasn't ready to face. Ever since she had asked Hunter to go on a walk only a few weeks ago and it didn't turn out how she expected, she had pushed back any feelings regarding the retriever whether they be positive or negative. She was a tough girl, made hard by the streets of London where she grew up. Even if she read Hunter's friendliness toward his invitation for a walk correctly, there was no way she was going to let him hurt her.

She refused to be hurt anymore.

"I'll go with Hunter. It is no good for dog to be alone," Exile offered, standing up from his seat.

Colleen felt both surprised and miffed that Exile volunteered before she did, but she tried not to act it. "I'll find us a landing spot," she said stoically as she watched the monitors. "I'm sure Hunter will enjoy your company, Exile."

As they started to land in an isolated area where they wouldn't be seen, Blitz, as usual, decided to fill the air with his bravado and criticism. "This mission is such a pain. This wouldn't have happened if I was leader. I would have gotten Parvo, and then we wouldn't have to keep looking for him," Blitz bragged. "I guess Hunter wasn't fast enough. Ha ha."

Perhaps it was that she missed her chance to spend some alone time with Hunter, or maybe Blitz was grating on her more than usual, but that comment made Colleen angry.

"Get out of here!"

The sudden shout caused the three males to stop immediately and look at the collie with wide eyes.

Realizing that she was the center of attention, Colleen tried to misdirect the others. "I think you should go with Exile, Blitz," she said in a much more calm voice.

"What?" Blitz asked, his ears sagging, not even noticing that she used his real name for once.

Colleen put on her usual smile and looked at the husky and doberman. "Yes, both of you should go. You can spend some male bonding time with Hunty."

Blitz was about to protest again, but it seemed that Exile was able to pick up something that the doberman couldn't. In fact, Colleen's smile looked a bit menacing.

"Let's go, comrade," Exile said as he pushed the other Rover to the exit.

Colleen quickly turned back to the controls, letting her emotions settle down. She had almost let her emotions for Hunter be known. While she had liked the idea of getting to know Hunter on a personal scale, she had no intention of falling for him.

Was that a contradiction? She wasn't sure.

"Rah rah rah rah rara."

"I know you're a guy too, Shag," Colleen said, her voice steady. She then switched to her usual, silly self. "I just wanted you for myself," she told him with a wink.

Shag gave her a flirty growl before returning to work.

The Road Rover leader was confused as he followed the Sonic Rover into landing onto the ground. He picked up the radio to question Colleen.

"What's going on, guys?" Hunter asked as he clicked on the intercom.

Colleen's face showed up on the screen, her toothy smile dividing her face. "Oh, I thought I would send over some company for ya, ducky."

At that moment, the doberman pincer, with a look of defiance on his face, entered through the cockpit doors along with the husky.

Hunter only took a moment to see Blitz's disgruntled expression before turning back to Colleen with a smile on his face. "Aw, thanks. That was so sweet of you to think of me," Hunter said congenially.

Due to the area still having a large population, the Road Rovers couldn't stay grounded for long and were soon back in the air, hoovering at a high altitude. Exile had taken the co-pilot's seat and Blitz sat in one of the passenger seats with his arms crossed.

"It looks like we might be waiting for a while," Hunter said, checking his video feed of The Master. The human was still deeply involved in his research. "It's good to see you two. How's everything going?"

"Oh, you know. Another day saving the world. The usual," Exile joked.

Blitz didn't reply but just looked at Hunter with suspicious. He was never sure if his leader was sincere in his comments or just really sarcastic. One of the reasons he kept baiting the golden retriever was to see just how the lighter-colored cano-mutant would react; no matter how much he poked and prodded at Hunter's pride, all Blitz received was good-nature comments. Or hidden insults. It always bothered Blitz how he could sit there and bark endlessly at the Road Rover leader, and all he'd get in return in a lolling tongue and a wagging tail.

"Man, it is so nice being here with you guys," Hunter said happily. "You'd think that a trip to California would be great, but it was just boring."

"At least you had some action," Exile told the golden retriever. "That better than silly doggy fashion show."

"Solo missions are kind of hard," Hunter continued. "It was weird not having everyone there for back-up. I could have used both of you."

"Yeah, if I were there, you wouldn't have failed," Blitz said nonchalantly, forgetting his previous bad mood.

"Failed?" Hunter repeated, his face looking strange as he said the word. Then he became determined. "No, I-we haven't failed yet. We'll find Parvo and get the doctor back. Don't you worry."

"Oh, ja. So simple. We just need to search hundreds of miles of airspace, and we'll find them," Blitz sad sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"That's the spirit," Hunter said, looking happy once again. He flipped the switch that turned the microphone on to communicate with The Master. "Have you found anything yet, Master?"

"I think so," The Master said, sounding a little distracted. "I've been listing in on some police dispatcher radio signals, and an old woman in Pennsylvania said she saw a UFO traveling over Philadelphia. It might be Parvo. Just in case, I want only those in the Sonic Rover to check it out. Hunter, you sit on stand-by in case you need to back them up."

"Roger that. We will not fail you, Master," Hunter said in his boldest voice. "Good luck, Colleen. Stay in radio contact."

"See you chaps later," Colleen radioed back.

The Sky Rover was overcome by silence as they watched the little blip on their sensors that represented the Sonic Rover move away from them. Hunter had his eyes locked on the blip while Exile and Blitz looked at their leader with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Is it just me or is Hunter really serious about mission?" Exile whispered to the doberman.

Blitz shrugged.

Even after being team mates for two years, they didn't know much about each other besides current situations and personality. Everyone seemed to agree silently that talking about their lives as dogs before The Master was something they didn't want. Not to mention, time as cano-sapiens was limited to missions only. Rarely did they had time to just hang out and be themselves. Sure they ate meals together and slept at Headquarters at times, but that was rare since they couldn't be away from their current owners for very long. It didn't give them much time to establish proper relationship among themselves.

It was at times like these when one of their team mates deviated from their usual attitude that they suddenly realized what they were lacking as sentient beings.

"We will find them, Hunter," Exile said as he placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Do not be worry bunion."

Hunter looked disgusted, his momentary seriousness vanished. "Ew, I won't."

With their leader back to his old self, the other cano-sapiens relaxed and fell into their old, familiar rhythm of chatter. Blitz soon forgot about both Hunter's seriousness and Colleen's outburst, but Exile mentally dwelt on the matter much longer. He wondered what would make his companions act different from usual. What would make congenial, sarcastic Colleen so emotional that she yelled like that at Blitz? Why was their happy-go-lucky leader suddenly fired up that he told half the jokes he usually did? Was this coincidental? Did the two have anything to do with each other?

Exile did suspect that Colleen's mood did have something to do with Hunter, but nothing he was completely sure about. But it all seemed to be on Colleen's part, not Hunter's. The golden retriever seemed oblivious of Colleen's small mood changes. But then again, Hunter was oblivious of Blitz's challenges.

But then Exile wondered if the two events weren't coincidental? What if they were connected, but not in the way Exile first thought. Could these changes in their moods not stem from the stress of the mission but something inside them.

It was a scary thought, but one Exile knew to be all too real. Because he could sense change in himself. He enjoyed being a Road Rover, the thrill of saving the day and using his super powers. He loved working as hard as he could and keeping the world safe. But lately, it didn't seem enough to him. For some reason, he felt as if there was something missing in his life, as if something about the way he was was wrong.

It would be the future that would tell if Exile was right, and he was scared of what they might become.

The second audition went very well, Mira was sure of that. She had not made any mistakes in the routine and was quite sure that one of the judges had smiled at her. She had had her share of dance competitions and was not a stranger to uncertainty in a performance. But this time, her confidence soared as she waited to watch the rest of the girls compete. It wasn't long until everyone was done, and the director said he would make his decision next week. Even though there were over a dozen positions available, it would mean that over seventy girls wouldn't make the cut.

A lot of girls stayed behind to use the showers in the changing room, but Mira didn't go with them. She did not like the idea of driving all the way to New Jersey in sweaty clothes, but she was reluctant to shower in front of the other dancers. She had no fear that someone would see her naked. She was quite confident of her figure and never had a problem with low self-esteem in her looks.

It was her hearing aids that was the problem.

To shower, she had to take the hearing aids out, and she didn't like to do that in front of the dancers. From experience, she knew there were some who would look down on her because she was hearing-impaired. As a young child, she was told that she would never be a good dancer because of her handicap. She hated hearing that, especially when people often said it in her presence since many thought she was completely deaf.

She did not want to see the faces of the other dancers if they found out. She would do anything to keep it a secret. She didn't even tell the director in her application. She'd stay silent until the very end.

The drive home was very uneventful but long. She was stuck in commute as everyone who lived in the suburbs was trying to get out of the city after work. By the time she arrived home, it was late and the sun was an hour away from setting. Her apartment complex was a series of buildings with each building holding four apartments. As she walked along the cement pathway, she could hear dogs barking all around her and, along with those barks, came the psychic vibrations.

Not dog. Not dog.

Strange. Wrong.

Bad.

The images and feelings she was receiving from the dogs' minds didn't make sense, and it physically made her feel ill. That sometimes happened if she received too many psychic messages or if the feelings were very strong.

Mira should have been curious about what was going on with the dogs in the apartment complex since she had never experienced so much psychic messages before, but her tiredness was compounded by the sudden illness that she just wanted to make it to her door and collapse on the couch to watch a movie while eating dinner before going to bed.

Go away! This is mine! Mine! the chihuahua from next door yelled out in her head. Danger!

At first, her neighbor's dog didn't give her pause. The small canine was very territorial and barked at her every time she came home. But when she felt a bit of fear in the dog's bark, she hesitated putting her key into the door. The eeriness of the situation suddenly hit her, and she listened to the dogs carefully.

Bad smell.

Bad dog.

Wrong dogs.

Danger!

If Mira had not hesitated entering her apartment, she might have been alright. Or she may have been too occupied to have heard the footsteps come up from behind. As she felt a presence behind her, Mira tried to turn around but was grabbed and prevented from moving.

"Hold her tightly," an accented woman's voice commanded sharply.

A rag was held against Mira's face as she struggled until she took her first breath. The chloroform entered her lungs, and, immediately, she felt faint and sluggish. Her second breath made the world turn fuzzy, and everything started to spin. With her third breath of the chemical, she closed her eyes and couldn't open them again.

"Hey, what are you doing?" a faint voice called out. "What the. . . What are those?"

That was the last Mira heard before taking her fourth breath and sinking into unconsciousness.

While waiting in the Sky Rover, the three male cano-sapiens had taken up a game of travel Monopoly. As it turned out, Blitz's aggressive nature made him a natural at the game, and he was ahead of the others with houses on Board Walk and Park Place as well as other properties. Exile had just landed on Park Place.

"Come on, cough up the dough," Blitz said with a business man's grin.

Exile felt his throat. "But I'm not feeling sick."

It was at this time that The Master's voice came over the radio.

"Hunter? Hunter, are you there?"

"What is it? Has Colleen and Shag found Parvo?" Hunter practically tackled the microphone in his eagerness to speak.

"Unfortunately, I believe I sent them in the wrong direction," The Master spoke quickly. "I just overheard a call to the police. A man just reported a group of dog monsters carrying away a young woman in New Jersey only a few minutes ago."

"We're on it," Hunter said as he put in the coordinates that The Master gave him. This time he wouldn't fail. He just hoped he'd get there in time.

"Colleen and Shag will back you up as soon as they can," The Master relayed before the radio went silent.

"Hold on, Rovers," the golden retriever warned his teammates. Just as he punched the nitro button, he heard Blitz give out his usual high scream as they were all pressed into their seats from the high G's.

"This one certainly sounds like Parvo," Exile said slowly, the extreme pressure making it hard to get his words out. "But why girl? What does Parvo want with her?"

"Good question," Hunter mulled over the question. "This certainly has been an unexpected twist."

Masked and hoovering above the state of New Jersey, Parvo paced inside his airship. He did not like how things were going. Goomer was taking far more time capturing the test subject than he would have liked. The longer she was gone, the more likely it was for her to be spotted, and then the Road Rovers would be on his trail again. Not only that, but the good doctor that was his "guest" was acting more and more agitated as he kept asking to be taken home. Parvo wanted to keep the professor in the dark about the experiment that was being planned and avoid any more questions about the Road Rovers and Shepherd. The patience that Parvo had for Dr. Saraaf was quickly wearing thin.

Luckily, Dr. Saraff was too involved in Parvo's lab to ask too many questions. He was especially fascinated with the flawed cano-mutator that Parvo built from Shepherd's old blueprints. The doctor was preoccupied with equations and redesigning the cano-mutator that he was only reminded of his situation when his dog, Dash, barked incessantly.

Parvo offered to take the dog away to a room with no noise to calm him down, but Saraaf refused to be parted with his pet. Parvo was becoming so irked with the mongrel, he was tempted to throw the beast out. After all, he had the doctor. It would only be a matter of forcing Saraaf to do his will. But it was better to manipulate than coerce, so he put up with the dog's yapping. After all, he couldn't be mad at the dog for displaying that unending loyalty to his master, a trait that had attracted Parvo to the species.

Even though the General felt he was finally getting the upper hand with the Rovers, something about the professor's behavior didn't sit well with him. Dr. Saraaf was acting normal enough, but he seemed uneasy and restless. He acted irritated with Dash, but at the same time was able to ignore the dog's growling. As Dr. Saraaf worked, he would talk to himself in rapid speech, much faster than if he were talking to his dog.

Yes, Parvo was sure that there was something wrong with Dr. Saraaf; he could smell it. The doctor smelled wrong. Saraaf was trying to keep it a secret. But what was the secret?

General Parvo growled at himself, irritated by his powerful sense of smell. Normal humans didn't have that. No, he was human. He hated that he could smell things that other couldn't, but, at the same time, was glad for the extra talent.

Suddenly, there was a beep on the com-unit by the door of the lab. Still keeping an eye on the professor's work, he pressed the answer button. "Finally, Groomer. Is everything. . . secure?"

"Uh, not quite. We have the 'subject' in hand, but we've been spotted," the Groomer said timidly. "I'm afraid the local authorities are on our heels."

Parvo growled at his assistant's words. He glanced back at the professor to see if the man had heard any of their exchange. When he saw that Saraaf was too far involved in his work to have heard, he briskly whispered back, "Don't worry about being seen. Just get back here."

Without even telling Saraaf, Parvo left the lab to go to the bridge where he could give the Groomer back-up if she needed it. It was another inconvenience that he couldn't leave one of his cano-mutants in the lab to stand guard. He was unsure what the doctor would think of the monstrous creations, and it would certainly put a huge hole in his fabricated story.

Once on the bridge, he brought up the tracking devices he had on all his cano-mutants. According to the sensors, the retrieval group was only a mile away. On foot, they should be back in about five minutes without delays. The coming darkness would help conceal them. He readied the weapons system to deal with anyone who stood in his way.

Surprisingly, it took the Sky Rover less time than Hunter had initially estimated. The cano-mutants had been spotted in a small town just outside of Trenton. But because of Parvo's cloaking device, they wouldn't be able to visibly spot him, something which Exile pointed out.

"I think I have a way around that," The Master spoke through the microphone. "A metal detector should be able to find the ship, even when it's in invisible mode."

"Brilliant," Exile said and started working at the controls to bring the metal detector online. A small blip popped up on the main screen. "There he is. He won't be expecting us, so it'll be like shooting pickles in barrel."

"Why would you shoot pickles?" Blitz asked, confused once again by Exile's colloquialism mix-up.

Exile shrugged and scratched his head. "I don't know. To make sandwich?"

As the two dogs continued to talk about shooting things in barrels, Hunter brought the Sky Rover to a stand still, letting it hover over the small town in a cloud bank. With the sun almost below the horizon, the cloud hid them perfectly.

"Hunter, you're going to let Parvo get away," Blitz whined when he realized they were no longer moving.

The golden retriever just shook his head. "I'm not letting him get away again, which is why we're waiting. Parvo now has two hostages, and I think we need to wait for Colleen and Shag for this one. We can't underestimate him when those humans' lives are on the line."

The seriousness in their leader's voice sobered the other cano-sapiens immediately. They nodded in agreement and waited in silence as they watched the computer's sensors. Exile brought up on the screen the other Rover vehicle's position, and they all patiently watched as the two blips came together.

Lucky for the local authorities, Parvo did not have to back up the Groomer with the ship's weapon system. He watched from the sensors as a few police cars zipped by with their lights flashing and their sirens screaming as they answered the call of the monster sighting. Soon after the vehicles left, the Groomer and the transformed canines jumped out of some bushes, the body of an unconscious human in one of the cano-mutant's arms. Parvo quickly turned off the cloaking device long enough for the Groomer to find the entrance then turned it off. If anyone happened to see his ship, they would have seen a giant, metal bulldog for a few seconds before it disappeared, which most people would shrug off as fatigue or a trick of the eye.

Once the team was back aboard, Parvo started up the engines and punched the thrusters for a quick take off, leaving behind only a few squashed hedges. Making a quick decision, he programed in a destination for the autopilot to follow before leaving the bridge to meet up with the Groomer.

"Any sign of the Rovers?" the Groomer asked as she guided the cano-mutants to the lab.

"No, not yet," Parvo said, his eyes looking dark and irritated. "You were lucky. What took you so long?"

"The girl wasn't at home," the Groomer complained with pursed lips. "We had to wait in the bushes around her apartments. All the dogs in the area went mad, causing such a stir I thought we'd be caught."

Parvo coughed, the stress of the situation causing his condition to worsen. His assistant offered him the lozenges she kept on her person at all times, and he took one. "Never mind about that. It seems we went unnoticed by Shepard's pets. And where we're going, they won't find us."

"Where?"

"They knew we were heading East, but now we're going South to Mexico," Parvo said with a smile. "Those stupid dogs won't expect us to change directions."

"Very good, General," the Groomer said in a purring voice. "But will you now tell me why you sent me out for this girl. Why do you want her gifts now?"

"Science is a process," Parvo told her grinning. "Sometimes you have to create a shortcut before you can pave the way. Come, let's get this girl ready for the professor before she wakes up."

Directing the obedient cano-mutants to carry the girl into the lab, Parvo and Groomer were far too busy with their captive to realize their mistake.

There was a high shout from Dr. Saraaf before he started screaming at them, "Get away, you monsters. Back." He was assisted by his dog, Dash, who barked and growled threateningly, hackles raised as high as they could go.

It took Parvo a minute before he realized that the professor was talking to the cano-mutants and not to him, seeing the mistake he didn't foresee.

"Calm down, doctor. Everything is okay," the General said in a reasoning tone as he tried to form a palatable lie. "These are not like the monsters you met before. These are Shepherd's earlier experiments that the Groomer and I rescued. They may look vicious, but they are really quite loveable." To prove his point, Parvo patted one on the head with his mechanical hand.

Dr. Saraaf, still keeping his distance, eyed the cocker spanial and dalmation mutants with skepticism, but accepted what the man said. However, Dash wasn't fooled at all and continued to defend his master with his barks and growls.

"Dash, it is alright," the professor said comfortingly, pulling the short dog by his collar away from the cano-mutants. It was at this time that he noticed that the Groomer was tending to a young woman who was lying on a lab table and being restrained by leather straps. "What's going on here?" he asked, his voice deep and demanding answers.

Once again, the General inwardly kicked himself for being so careless. He wasn't used to hiding his dark intentions on his own ship and thought himself invincible. He wondered if he'd be reduced to using force on the doctor to get what he wanted. In hopes he wouldn't have to do that, he summoned up all the cunning he had and turned back to the doctor.

"Why, I'm just getting the test subject ready, just as you asked," Parvo said with a calm smile, walking to the doctor. He had to be careful since Dash turned his menacing growls onto Parvo.

Dr. Saraaf seemed confused instead of angry by this, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. "Test s-subject?" Dr. Saraaf echoed, looking very nervous. He looked as if he was wondering if this were true. "I didn't ask for a human test subject."

"Of course, you did," Parvo said, laying the honey on thick. He was doing his best to make things sound normal. "Didn't you tell me that it would be easier to use a human first to create the hybrid?"

Dr. Saraaf looked up at the larger man with a befuddled look on his face. His eyes moved back and forth as if searching for the memory. "I did?" he asked, his tone had a hint of recollection. "Yes, I do recall the theory, but I was only talking hypothetically. It wouldn't be ethical to perform the experiment."

"But isn't it your dream, doctor, to use your research to help mankind?" General Parvo asked, persuading the other man to his reasoning. "Think of how much time will be wasted as you go through all the red tape and procedures before you can go to human experimentation. Here, you can bypass all that."

"But I can't," Dr. Saraaf insisted, licking his lips. He was shaking as his resolve started to dissipate. "This girl obviously hasn't volunteered."

"What does she have to complain about?" Parvo said with a shrug. "She'll have better hearing, a better sense of smell. She'll be faster, stronger. Does that sound like you are harming her?"

A part of Dr. Saraaf knew that he was on a slippery slope as he kept listing to what the General had to say, but more and more of him was squelching his conscience. Sweat poured down his face as he thought more and more on this issue.

Saraaf shook his head, the inner turmoil making his head feel fuzzy and achy. Dash's incessant barking wasn't making things better. "Shut up, Dash," he shouted at his dog.

Dash crouched down in shame, his ears sinking and tail hugging his belly.

"I guess what you are saying is right," Dr. Saraaf said, feeling the excitement of what he was about to do growing inside of him. "After all, we won't be doing a complete transfiguration, just a minor one. Just enough to prove my theory. If I'm correct, I'm sure I can reverse it."

Parvo beamed at his guest, patting the doctor on his back. "Excellent doctor. The Groomer will assist you."

Part of Dr. Saraaf knew that he wasn't in the right frame of mind at this time. He needed his medication, and, without it, his judgment was impaired. But part of him wanted to believe General Parvo. It seemed so easy. Nobody would get hurt. The process was completely reversible (in theory). He kept rationalizing his actions, and, soon enough, he had persuaded himself that science would benefit the girl. She was fit, healthy and in excellent condition. She didn't show any sign of using drugs or on any prescriptions. That was best. That meant her blood wouldn't be tainted with any unknown chemicals.

"Here is the canine blood for you to use," the Groomer said after she took a sample from the dalmation mutated creature. "I'm sure the process will be far easier with this treated blood."

"Thank you, m'dear," he said quickly, taking the syringe that was handed to him. However part of him still didn't trust his hosts no matter how anxious he was to work on his theory. Instead of using the blood given to him, he placed the syringe discreetly in his lab coat, making sure the needle was capped.

"I think the girl may be waking up," Dr. Saraaf said to distract the Irish woman.

"Ah, I'll take care of her," the Groomer said in her thick accent.

When the woman had her back to the doctor, Saraaf gently grabbed at Dash, who was sitting out of the way in the corner. With soothing words, he took Dash's paw and quickly drew a blood sample from a vein. Dash didn't squirm or yelp; he was used to having blood drawn.

Before the Groomer turned around again, Dr. Saraaf was back to work, assembling what he needed to treat Dash's blood with nobody the wiser that he switched the samples.

"Why don't we get them now?"

Hunter's paws were tight on the controls, and his eyes locked onto the screen. They had to be cautious tracking Parvo since their metal detector only had a range of a few hundred feet.

"We need to wait for Shag and Colleen to catch up," Hunter explained. "That's why we're staying out of sight. If he spots us, then we're going to have a chase on our hands. And I'm sure he'll win since we can't see him."

"Which is why we should jump him now," Blitz argued. He had been getting antsy waiting for some kind of action and was now getting aggressive with his words. "If he gets too far away, we'll lose him again."

"Blitz, sit!" Hunter commanded much more tersely than his usual tone. The golden retriever had to really concentrate on his piloting. To escape Parvo's notice, he had to fly much lower than what was considered safe. Not only that, but it was dark, and they had to keep their lights off to stay unnoticed. If he looked away for too long or was slow to react, they could run into an obstacle. "Exile, why don't you calculate how long it will take for Colleen to catch up."

"You got it, comrade," Exile said with a salute. He contacted the Sonic Rover to get Colleen's speed and position before plugging in the numbers into the computer. A few minutes later he gave the answer. "They will be meeting up with us in roughly one hour. Map says that we'll be over U.S. border by then."

"Looks like we're heading south of the border, Rovers," Hunter said, some of his usual humor back. "Let's get them."

It was eerie how easily it was for Dr. Saraaf to work. Even with the niggling voice in his head telling him to stop, he was able to calculate equations far more deftly than before. This sometimes happened when he went into a mania. Even Dash's whimpering didn't dissuade him from his mission.

With microscope and petri dish, the professor worked like a fiend with a plan as he treated Dash's blood. He mixed a chemical solution with the blood that would make it more receptive to the small amount of radiation that would trigger the fusion and mutation. The small lab surprisingly had everything he needed, including the right type of radiation that the blood would be suffused in. It was almost done. Just a few more minutes.

Then the ship rocked, and there was a loud explosion as an alarm blared, making him jump and almost dropping his work. Cradling the serum that he had just mixed in the vortex mixer, he watched as the Groomer left the room with the cano-mutants. They didn't say anything to him.

What was going on? Was there an emergency?

Not that he could be bothered with that. Ignoring the loud klaxons, he went over to the girl that was still belted onto the lab table. Her dark skin looked sallow from the chloroform. He noticed that her breathing was starting to increase, indicating that she was about to wake.

She was so young, the same age as his students. At that thought, he almost turned back. His heart went out to the eager minds that always stayed after class to ask probing questions.

But if everyone followed the way of the heart, there would never be any progress.

First, the professor administered a pain-killer to the girl. It wasn't a large dose, and the prick of the needle made the girl jump in her sleep that proved she would soon be awake. The changes she'd go through would be very painful, so the drug would be a blessing, but it wouldn't block out all the pain. He couldn't give her too much, or it might interfere with the experiment.

Then he gave her the serum.

"What's happening? What is it?" the Groomer asked once she was back on the bridge.

"It's those accursed Rovers," Parvo replied hoarsely as he tried to keep the ship from rocking. "They're in two ships and came from below. They shot a few missiles, but they intentionally missed our engines. They're trying to cripple us to get us to land."

"How did they find us?" the Groomer shouted.

"I don't know. Shepherd must have figured it out," Parvo spat out the name of his nemesis.

"What do we do, General?"

"Shoot back, what else? Get to the weapon's panel."

The Irish woman moved to the weapon's controls, and her fingers danced across the buttons. "Weapons are down, General."

"Blast it. They knew exactly where to shoot," the man shouted, pounding his mechanical fist against the console. "Gather the cano-mutants. I can't stop them from coming aboard. Do not let them get the professor!"

The two Road Rover vehicles each took a side of Parvo's bulldog ship. Lasers cut into the steel skin, and two doorways were created. Over a mile above the Earth, three cano-sapiens jumped from the Sky Rover to Parvo's vehicle.

"But how do we get back to the ship," Blitz asked as the autopilot steered the ship away from Parvo's.

"I guess we don't," Hunter said with a confident shrug. "This is it, guys. This may be the day we take Parvo down. There's nowhere for us or him to go."

That in itself caused the other two to get their spirits raised up. But they had to meet up with Colleen and Shag, who were on the other side of the ship.

"Are you aboard, Colleen?" Hunter asked through his collar's communication device.

"Right-O, Hunty. And company's arrived," her voice came through loud and clear.

"We're on our way."

"I'll make tea."

The three males burst through the first door they found, and on the other end was three cano-mutants, a chihuahua, a bulldog, and a terrier, each a dog breed that should have been ten times smaller than what they were now.

"One for each of us," Exile commented with a smile.

"I'll take the cute one," Hunter said and aimed a punch at the bulldog.

"But that would be me," Blitz joked as he knocked the legs from under the terrier.

The three made quick work out of those cano-mutants before five more came after them, these ones with laser weapons.

"Time to move on," Hunter said, finding another door to escape from the enemies. After going through, he held the door closed with Blitz while Exile found something to prop it.

"Whew, that was close."

Suddenly, it was as if cano-mutants were popping out of everywhere. Enlarged anthropomorphic dogs sprang out of anything that could hide one.

"Talk about out of pot and into fire," Exile said softly, his eyes wide.

"What do we do?" Blitz asked, his voice starting to tremble. "It looks like Parvo's entire army is here."

"Yes, it does. That's how important Dr. Saraaf is," Hunter said with a nod. "We will save him, Rovers. We can do this."

The Cano-mutants converged on the three; outnumbered, the cano-sapiens started fighting for their lives. Their larger opponents were dragging them down; the attack as vicious as it comes. They were completely overwhelmed when a door burst open.

"Get 'em, Shag!" Colleen's war-yell reverberated through the ship from the doorway.

The white sheep dog pulled out a bazooka, almost out of thin air, and started aiming it at anything that moved. Even though it was only loaded with tennis balls, the cano-mutants still scrambled over each other to get away. Those tennis balls could leave behind some nasty welts.

"Whew, thanks Colleen. I thought we had it there," Hunter said as he picked himself up from the floor. He wiped his mouth, and his hand had blood on it.

"Anything for you, Hunt-hunt," she said, giving him a strange new nicknamed.

Now with Parvo's goons in a panic, the Road Rovers fell upon their opponents with renewed strength, all of them finally together. Normally, they would fight while holding back; after all, the cano-mutants were only being used by the General. But this day, they would not be restrained. The odds were against them, and, they knew, it wasn't just the professor's life at stake. Their own were on the line, and this mission was far more dangerous than the others.

With tooth and nail, they fought, pushing themselves to the limits. Hunter had the worst of it since his super powers were not very useful in such a small space, and he feared hurting his teammates as well. But even though they were outnumbered, they knew how to work as a team and aided each other. One by one, the larger cano-mutants fell, unconscious but alive.

When the fighting was over, they looked around the room. There were three doors, one that Hunter's group came through, and another Collen and Shag had entered. One door left.

"Let's see what's behind door number three," Hunter said and kicked the door opened.

Parvo and the Groomer were waiting just on the other side, their remaining cano-mutants by their sides. Nearby, Dr. Saraaf stood behind the counter of a small lab with his back turned. He only bothered to look up once before returning to whatever he was doing. There was no sign of the girl.

The Road Rovers were already exhausted from fighting this whole way. Hunter could see the injuries his team mates had sustained. Colleen had a cut over her forehead that was dripping down her face. Exile's nose was leaking blood, and he was favoring his left leg. Blitz's knuckles on both hands were bleeding and swollen, and he held his stomach as if he hurt his ribs. Shag was missing handfuls of fur, his mouth dripped foam and blood. As for Hunter, he also felt as if he had a couple of ribs broken along with other injuries.

"If you give up now, Rovers, I promise I'll return you to your master in one piece," Parvo scoffed at them.

"Say what you like, Parvo," Hunter shouted back. "But we came to get the professor and the girl, and we're not leaving without them."

"Try if you can, dog," the General growl.

Just before the two sides readied themselves for their clash, they were interrupted by a piercing and agonizing scream.

(Author's notes: For those of you who didn't guess it, Dr. Saraaf is bipolar. I would like the audience to know that with some bipolars, if they go into a manic state, they can make decisions they wouldn't normally make. Do not assume this is true for everyone who is bipolar. The disorder is different for everyone. I also want to make it clear that it isn't just the disorder that determines Dr. Saraaf's decisions; part of it is his personality. He is the type to push rules to their limits, but normally wouldn't go this far. I intend to go further in depth about this in later chapters. All my information about bipolar disorders come from research on the Internet. If I get any of my facts wrong, please let me know. Thank you.)