Chapter Two: Clash Of The Titans
The Rovers, save for Krypto, plus the Kats, had gathered inside the control booth overlooking their immense training room. Hubert and his lab assistant, a female tan and black German shepherd named Canis Lupus, were sitting in front of the monitoring station, while the rest of the Rovers and co were looking through the window. Even the Master had come to see what the newest Rover was capable of. All eyes were on Krypto.
The Rover in question stood in the center of the training room looking around expectantly. The others had explained to Krypto that he was not only going to demonstrate but also test his powers within a simulated environment. Superman was still training him so he could better control his powers and employ them without causing undue damage, but it had been months since he last had an accident.
Picking a microphone up, Hubert began speaking into it. His erudite voice was projected through the loudspeakers inside the training room. "Alright my boy, for now we're just putting you through a very basic beginner's training simulation. Your main objective is to prevent the loss of life and property damage. You are allowed to use all of your powers to their fullest extent. Ready?"
In response, Krypto gave his audience a thumbs-up and an easy grin. Canis hit one of the buttons on the control panel, then tapped a few keys on a keyboard. The walls of the Training Room were equipped with built-in holographic image projectors, which came to life as the computer program which controlled them booted up.
Surprised, Krypto spun around, watching as the corners of the room appeared to literally melt. It was like gravity itself was being halted. The whole room was transforming from four plain black walls and a floor into a completely new environment. Needless to say it was disorientating, especially to someone who was completely new to virtual reality.
"At least he didnae throw up." Eldon remarked, referring to the fact that the effects of the virtual reality kicking in had made some of the Rovers nauseous when they'd first tried it out.
"I know I recall you lookin' a little green around the gills yourself." Colleen retorted.
Once the program had done its work, Krypto noted with interest that it even included realistic scents and sounds. He could smell fresh clean summer air, and recognized the familiar sounds of cheerful birdsong and the rhythmic cadence of insect cries. His ears also picked up the sounds of the gentle gushing of water from somewhere nearby. He appeared to be standing in the middle of a city, on a broad avenue paved with golden cream-colored flagstone. Beautiful buildings, some of which looked vaguely classical Grecian in their style and design, lined either side of the street. Many of them were made from glass or had glass windows taking up large portions of their exteriors. Wherever Krypto was, it sure didn't look familiar to him.
"Welcome to the city of Grandcanis, circa 1000 BC." Hubert announced from somewhere above.
The sudden intrusion of Hubert's voice took Krypto off-guard, and he looked around for him. Suddenly remembering that what he was seeing was just virtual reality though, Krypto decided to start walking, eager to see more of the majestic city.
The source of the running water he'd heard previously was revealed to be a magnificent three-tiered gold and white marble fountain marking the entrance to what Krypto realized was a large park. Going inside, Krypto found a wide expanse of green interspaced with walkways the same color as the city streets. Shade trees grew here and there, and flower beds added brilliant splashes of color to the idyllic scene. Looking beyond the park's gated perimeters, he saw a forest.
As Krypto admired his surroundings, his ears suddenly picked up the sound of many pairs of feet marching towards him. Turning, he saw a platoon of several different species of foxes – some gray and arctic foxes, but mostly red foxes - who were anthromorphs like him and the other Rovers headed his way down the street. Unlike the Rovers though, the foxes were taller, as well more heavily muscled and menacing-looking. He thought the costuming they were dressed in made them look like warriors from ancient Rome or something. They were neatly lined up in rows of four, and numbered twenty in all. Their ranks bristled with a variety of old-fashioned weaponry: swords, spears, shields, and so on.
And they did not look friendly.
The first line of foxes broke rank and charged Krypto, weapons raised and ready to make a quick kill. Krypto prepared to meet them. Two foxes were quicker in reaching him then their fellows were. One of them, an arctic fox, sprang at Krypto and succeeded in knocking the dog to the ground. The other struck him on the head from behind with a wooden club. The attacks raised Krypto's ire more than anything, and he kicked out, knocking the arctic fox away.
The second fox swung at him again, but Krypto raised his right arm, taking the brunt of the blow on his forearm and shattering the club in the same instance. As the startled fox stood there staring at what remained of his splintered weapon, Krypto knocked him out with a right cross.
He didn't have long to savor his victory as the foxes started dogpiling him. Soon Krypto could no longer be seen, buried under a heap of punching, kicking enemies. It looked like Krypto had finally met his match, but foxes abruptly went flying everywhere as he simply muscled his way out of the pileup. Grabbing the nearest fox by one of his legs, Krypto used him like a baseball bat, swinging him into a cluster of foxes and knocking all five down.
Dropping his hapless foe, he took to the air, twisting to the side in order to evade the spears being hurled at him by the foxes who were still standing. Stopping in mid-air to hover there, he inhaled deeply and blew outwards, unleashing a freezing blast of air. Ceasing his actions, Krypto was satisfied to see ten foxes encased in ice. Now there was just the matter of the remaining seven. Smirking, he zoomed headlong towards the rest of the foxes. They were scattered like pins before a bowling ball. Landing, Krypto looked back at the foxes strewn all over the street in his wake. Was that all? That had actually been kind of fun.
In the blink of an eye, both the foxes and Grandcanis vanished.
"Impressive." Canis complimented him over the intercom. "Come on back up."
Canis wasn't the only one who'd been impressed. The other Rovers were clamoring excitedly about the display they'd witnessed.
"I've heard the stories about him, but seeing it firsthand…" A wide-eyed Dusty didn't bother to conceal the awe in his voice.
Greta nodded. "It would've taken at least three of us to defeat that many Vulpo-Mutants!"
"He is strong…" Sugar grudgingly began. "But strength means nothing without skill."
"Sugar, when you beat that many mutants and not crush a sweat, I do not think you need skill." Exile retorted.
"That's 'break a sweat', you-"
"Can ye imagine havin' to go up against him in a training session?" Eldon exclaimed. "He'd wipe the floor with the lot o' us!"
"I can't wait 'til he starts coming out on missions with us! Krypto is gonna send the baddies packing!" Huntress whooped enthusiastically before glancing over at Hunter. "Don't you think so, big bruber?"
Throughout Krypto's training session, Hunter had watched in silent wonder. He had never seen anyone go through a simulation like that before. It wasn't Krypto's fighting skills (which, like Sugar had noted, were average brawling abilities at best) that were so astonishing as much as it was his sheer power. Krypto was like a one-dog army: he was faster than Hunter himself was, stronger than either Exile or Shag, and could freeze or heat things like Exile could. And those were only a portion of the powers he possessed.
"What?" His attention having been caught by Huntress, Hunter glanced her way and smiled. "Yeah, he was great, wasn't he?"
"We'll have to have him try out one of the more challenging sims and see how he does." The Master said.
"I've never heard of any Grandcanis before." Krypto commented once he'd rejoined everyone. "And what was the deal with those foxes?"
"That sim was designed by another Rover named Blades Broadsword, who added it to the program's memory archives." The Master explained. "Grandcanis was a city which existed here on Earth before the emergence of humanity and was mainly inhabited by anthromorphs. It was eventually destroyed thanks to a sorcerer named Zaygos and his ally Dreamscape."
Hearing the word "sorcerer", a prickle of discomfort coursed down Krypto's spine. Magic was a weakness of his, as well as that of his master and his master's cousin. He still had bad memories of the time he and Superman had run into a deadly sorceress and psychic vampire named Selene.
"Can't blame you for looking nervous, mate. Zaygos is bad news." Colleen told Krypto, her keen senses having picked up on his sudden unease. "He's as bad as Parvo is."
"Very true, Colleen." The Master nodded. "Much of Grandcanis wound up being cast into the Void. The Void is a strange parallel dimension that we still don't know very much about. Zaygos and his generals reside there now, using the deserted ruins as their base of operations. Those foxes you saw, Vulpo-Mutants, serve as their soldiers."
An ancient city of anthromorphs and an evil wizard from centuries past? Krypto's head was spinning.
Seeing his dazed expression, Shag chuckled. "Yeah, it is a lot to take in."
"No kidding. Fighting rampaging robots and flying to outer space almost seems normal now," Krypto and the others laughed. "But seriously, Grandcanis was a beautiful place before this Zaygos guy got a hold of it. And the Void reminds me of the Phantom Zone. On Krypton it was used as a prison for the really bad criminals. Sounds like the only difference between it and the Void is that criminals in the Phantom Zone are stuck there."
"We would all be so lucky if Zaygos and his cronies were permanently stuck in the Void." Trouble, a witch's cat of mixed breeding and the fifth Wild Kat, grumbled. "Save us a lot of work."
Hubert was regarding Krypto with renewed interest. "Tell me more about this Phantom Zone."
"Well I'm not a Phantom Zone expert, but I'll try. You've heard about those two rogue Kryptonians who rampaged through Metropolis before, right?"
"They were prisoners from the Phantom Zone?"
Krypto nodded. "They got loose in the first place because of a device my master's father made called the Phantom Zone projector. It can send people and things into the Phantom Zone or bring them back out."
Hunter frowned. He and the others had all been listening along with Hubert to Krypto's story. "So… who released Jax-Ur and Mala then?"
"Kal-El did." Came the casual response. "Wait, it's not like that guys!" Laughing, Krypto waved his hands disarmingly when he saw everyone's stunned reactions. "He thought Mala had reformed. He never would've let her out in the first place if he'd known what she was really like. She was the one who freed Jax-Ur."
Hunter practically heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he hadn't really been sure where Krypto's story was headed. Granted, he just knew that Superman would never knowingly betray Earth, but still.
"Oh boy. I think you went and started something here with Hubie, Krypto." Canis jerked a thumb over at Hubert. He was practically salivating, but his young helper's utterance of his much-maligned nickname caused his distracted happy expression to become a disapproving frown. "Don't call me Hubie. Anyways, I wonder if your Phantom Zone shares any similarities with the Void? And a device capable of bringing someone in and out of another reality… I can't imagine how advanced something like that must be…"
"Well, if you ever wanna talk to Superman about it, just let me know." Krypto told him. "We could always use a scientist to help us out with things from time to time."
"Having a school for people with superpowers is something I never would've thought about, but it's a smart idea. Why'd the Master put it out here in the desert though?" Krypto was asking the others. "Why not someplace nicer? Or wetter?"
The pack of Rovers was at Shepherd Academy, which was a mile away from RRMC. The school was named for the man who created it, the Master, who, back in his civilian life, had been known as Professor William Shepherd. The exterior of the three-story structure was made from red brick and white-painted wood. There was also a swimming pool, which the Rovers were standing near, and three smaller buildings on the grounds. It was all surrounded by a ten-foot high stone wall, with a wrought iron fence serving as the main entrance. The Master had the facility constructed sometime after RRMC was erected. Shepherd Academy's primary purpose was to school prospective young Rovers, though currently this mostly just consisted of a small group of teenaged metahumans. Right then the group was in class.
"Safety reasons." Colleen explained. "In case something ever happens here, it'd take us no time to come over and help."
"Oh, okay. Now that I think about it, it kinda reminds me of the Fortress of Solitude." Seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, Krypto explained, "Superman's headquarters up in the Arctic. He's got a bunch of tech and stuff from Krypton there. It's where I usually stay."
"Whoa." Hunter's face lit up in true fanboy fashion. "How awesome would it be to live at Superman's headquarters?"
Krypto shrugged. "It's fine, I guess. At least you guys have actual grass and stuff at your homes, right?"
"Sure, but if I had a choice between grass and living with the Man of Steel, you know what I'd choose!"
"Between you and me, I'd love to be able to live on a farm! Getting to see all the other animals, sleeping out under the stars, all the dirt you'd ever want to dig in… Digging in ice just isn't the same."
Listening to the two go back and forth, Colleen mused over the fact that she'd never seen Hunter like this before. To her, his enthusiasm for all things Krypto and Superman-related was amusing, cute even. While she'd been amazed to learn Krypto was a recruit just like everyone else was, she wasn't nearly as captivated by other superheroes as Hunter was. But that didn't mean she disliked them either, and so far, thought Krypto was a nice fellow. "So what's it like, being able to fly without havin' to use a plane?" She asked him.
Krypto grinned at her. "Wanna find out?"
For once Colleen was too startled to react as Krypto suddenly scooped her up in his arms and took off into the air. Then as fast as he'd flown off, he stopped. Together he and Colleen just hovered where they were. She had half a mind to tell him off for grabbing her like that without any warning. While recovering from her annoyed shock though, Colleen was just as quickly overcome by awe when noticed their surroundings, and her anger melted away.
They were all the way up among the clouds. There were fat puffy clouds that reminded her of sheep, and long, wispy clouds scrawled like white chalk scribbles across the azure sky. From her position, she had a perfect bird's eye view of the desert. Suddenly realizing Krypto was speaking to her, she gave him her ear.
"Spread your arms!"
Colleen did as she was instructed, holding her arms out to either side. Then Krypto, who was careful to maintain a good grip on his passenger, but not to where it would be uncomfortable for her, was off again. Like aerial acrobats, they tumbled through the air, diving around, under, and even through the clouds. To Colleen's surprise, a joyous giggle escaped her.
Gracefully the Cano-Sapiens breezed up and around one especially large cumulus cloud, molding it into a swirling shape not unlike a scoop of ice cream before Krypto's flight path straightened out again. Reaching a hand out, Colleen brushed the top of another cloud as they soared past it. It was like fog, easily dispersing under her touch.
On the ground, the rest of the Rovers watched as the two wheeled effortlessly overhead. Hunter could feel a sense of unease build in the pit of his stomach. It'd come as a shock to him to see Krypto grab Colleen out of the blue and make off with her like that. "I hope they're being careful up there."
"What?" Exile glanced at him. "You think he is going to drop her?"
"No!… Well, I hope not. But dogs weren't meant to fly like that." He gestured up at them.
"Dogs weren't meant to fly period, Hunter!" Blitz laughed, as did everyone else. Hunter didn't share their amusement.
Moments later, Krypto and Colleen returned. Gently he set her back down on the ground. Her normally immaculate headfur was windblown, her pale blue gray eyes sparkled like diamonds, and she was grinning from ear to ear. Everyone rushed up to her and Krypto, wanting to know what flying was like and eager to experience it for themselves.
Krypto was more than happy to oblige, taking Greta up next, then Exile. After flying back down with Huntress, he looked over at Hunter, who'd remained where he was, watching everything with uncertainty. "You wanna try it, Hunter?"
In spite of his cohorts' enthusiasm, he was still dubious of the whole flying thing. "Uh, I'm good K-Dog, thanks."
"Try it, Huntie! You'll like it!" Colleen encouraged him. The others chimed in.
"I really don't thi - hey!" Hunter was alarmed to find himself being lifted up by Krypto, who was holding him beneath his armpits. "Let go of me!"
"Dude, relax!" Krypto shot back. "This is gonna be fun, you'll see!"
Now, it wasn't that Hunter was necessarily scared of flying. As long as he was safely inside a plane or whatever, then he was good. He preferred the sensation of having something solid underfoot while he was airborne. Not only did it feel natural, but it also gave him a sense of control over his environment.
By then they were already ten feet into the air. Krypto struggled to keep a hold of Hunter as he began thrashing around in his growing panic. "Quit squirming! You're gonna make me -"
Hunter slipped from his grip. Krypto's hand flashed out, trying to grab him, but missed. A gasp went up from below as the others watched Hunter's descent. Krypto plunged after him in an effort to catch him.
There was a tremendous splash. The other Rovers dashed over to the side of the pool Hunter had just landed in. A thoroughly drenched Hunter quickly resurfaced, furiously spitting out the unnatural-tasting chlorinated water which had filled his mouth.
Krypto landed by the side of the pool. "Sorry about that, Hunter! Are you hurt?"
'Only my pride.' Hunter bitterly thought, dogpaddling his way over to the side. "I'm fine." He grunted as he climbed out, ignoring Krypto and Shag's attempts to assist him. Grateful to have his feet planted on dry land again, he shook himself off before coldly eying Krypto, who in his mind had at least the good grace to look guilty.
"We were still too close to the ground for me to go really fast and catch you - I didn't want to create a sonic boom so close to the school -"
"I said its fine." Hunter cut off him off.
"Here, Hunter. Why don't you get dried off?" Reaching within the white felted cords making up his coat and feeling around a moment, Shag retrieved a green towel. He offered it to Hunter, who wore a rather odd expression on his face as he continued staring at Krypto. Finally catching sight of the towel, Hunter grabbed it and started toweling himself off.
The others had kept their distance, having watched the entire exchange in silence. The tension in the air was palpable.
"Well, look at the time, will you?" Colleen finally declared a little too loudly. "We should be havin' lunch right about now, right Shag?"
"We should!" Shag's head moved up and down like a big furry bobblehead doll. "Lunch is the most important meal of the day, after all! Right after breakfast, brunch, and dinner. So how about it, Hunter? Maybe we could have sandwiches?" He threw a chummy arm around Hunter.
Finally, Hunter tore his eyes away from Krypto, a wide, forced grin plastered on his muzzle. "Alright, sandwiches. Sure. Hey, you know what lunchmeat is a part of your body?" He prodded the komondor in his chest. "Below-knee!"
"Uh…" Somewhat weirded out by the hasty change in Hunter's mood, Shag looked around at the others to gauge their reactions. They either seemed to share in his bafflement, were looking particularly unimpressed by the corny joke, or like they really wanted to be somewhere else right then.
The lone exception was Krypto, who laughed in genuine amusement. "Below-knee – nice one!"
"Ha ha ha! That's great, Hunter!" Shag joined in with the forced laughter before abruptly cutting it off and guiding Hunter away. "Let's go now."
Night had fell, and the Rovers who had masters had gone home to spend the rest of their time with them. Hunter, now back in his pure canine form, was in Washington D.C. at the White House. He was in his doghouse, which was located on the South Lawn, basically resembled a replica of the White House on its exterior, just on a dog-sized scale.
Hunter restlessly tossed and turned as he struggled to fall asleep, but whatever he did, he just couldn't get the Rovers' newest recruit out of his mind. Early on he'd only been too excited to discover that Krypto was going to be one of them. But those sentiments had changed drastically. Honestly, he wanted to slug Krypto right in the face after getting out of the pool before catching himself. For one thing, hauling off and punching a recruit would've reflected poorly on him, and he didn't want to lose face in front of the others like that. Secondly, he remembered that Krypto was near-invulnerable. It would've been like a kitten trying to hit a great dane. Hunter would have just ended up with an injured hand for his troubles. He'd made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to go flying, hadn't he? It was like Krypto hadn't even been listening. Was he going to be that hardheaded on missions? It was bad enough the guy made most of the other Rovers look completely useless with that display of his in the training room, Hunter himself included. How could somebody as awesome as Superman have such an annoying dog?
Hunter didn't know how late it was when his eyelids finally grew heavy and he drifted off. But slumber didn't exactly grant him peace from his worries.
A Cano-Sapien once again, Hunter finds himself back at RRMC. He's standing in the center of the Debriefing Room before the Master, who occupies his usual position up on his balcony. Around Hunter, the rest of the Rovers - the Wild Kats, Tao's Ferreteers, and the few other teams they had as well as the agents and personnel watch him in total silence. Hunter doesn't know what's going on or why he's here, but waits to hear what the Master has to tell him.
At last the Master speaks. "Hunter, we've taken a vote. Krypto's in, and you're out."
"Huh?" Hunter is confused. "Out of what, Master?"
"You're no longer in charge of the Alpha Rovers. Krypto is." The man gestures behind Hunter, causing him to turn to see where he's pointing.
The crowd parts to make way for Krypto, who approaches Hunter and rests a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry bud, but your team needs a more capable and powerful leader."
Hunter is rendered speechless. He is even more stunned to see Colleen saunter up to Krypto and affectionately wrap her arms around his shoulders. "So Supey-Woopy, what'll your first act be as leader?"
After thinking a moment, Krypto smiles. "Well, it's only fair I get Hunter's old bedroom, isn't it?" He looks around at all the assembled Rovers. "You guys want to help redecorate?"
The crowd flocks around Superdog to enthusiastically volunteer their assistance. Hunter has to quickly step out of the way or be knocked down in the rush.
"I will paint!" Exile offers.
"No, I'll do it!" Blitz counters.
"No, me! What would you know of painting?"
"Oh, like you're an expert decorator, snow cone?" They're in each other's faces now, their hackles up.
"Boys, boys," Laughing in amusement, Krypto walks over to the bickering pair. "You both can paint two walls each!"
Exile and Blitz cheer like kids opening their presents at Christmastime. With the squabble settled, Krypto continues outlining his plans for Hunter's bedroom. "Oh yeah, I'll have to get rid of those stupid cowboy bed sheets too…"
Hunter succeeds in recovering both his senses and his voice. "My… my bed sheets? How'd you even know I had cowboy bed sheets?!"
Krypto lightly taps the side of his head, the area close by his eyes. "Hello, X-ray vision? It's just one of my many superpowers, you inferior creature."
"Hey Krypto, catch!" The Master calls out, pitching the keycard to Hunter's bedroom to Krypto, who easily catches it in one hand.
"Thanks, Big Willie!" Grinning, Krypto aims the "finger pistols" gesture at the Master.
Chuckling, he returns the gesture."Right back at ya, K-Dog!"
Feeling as though he's going to be sick, Hunter turns away from the nightmarish scene to find Professor Hubert standing behind him.
"Now don't fret, my boy," He affably says. "You'll always have a job here." He hands Hunter a folded-up khaki janitor's uniform and points to a janitor's rolling cart nearby. "Now for your first duty, I believe Shag had a complaint about a clogged shower drain…"
Starting into wakefulness, Hunter looked around with wide, wild eyes. If he had been human, then he would've awakened in a cold sweat. Realizing he was still in his doghouse, he lay back down, sighing uneasily.
'The others would never replace me… never.' He tried comforting himself. Unsurprisingly, he failed to get much rest for the remainder of the night, and when he did, it was in short stretches.
A cloud of white vapor preceded the exit of a yawning Hunter from one of the Transdogmafiers. He'd just arrived at RRMC. It was late in the afternoon, and his coming in at such a time was rather unusual. In spite of the casual attitude he often put off, he was also a responsible individual and therefore tended to be punctual, coming in early on days when the Alpha Rovers were supposed to be on-duty.
Hunter hadn't gotten any real sleep until the wee hours of dawn, and was now feeling the effects. He hoped that this day would turn out better then yesterday. Wondering if Huntress or any of his friends were around, he decided to go find them.
Eventually, Hunter spotted a smooth collie Cano-Sapien heading his way. Much like himself, the collie also seemed to be in the act of searching for someone or something. Her fur was tri-color, patterned in tones of light tan, black, and white, and she was dressed in what was standard attire for her – what looked to be a leather bikini top, a leather mini-skirt, and knee-high boots made from the same material. A leather headband and wristbands completed the ensemble, and everything was studded with silver studs. Colleen sometimes joked that were it not for the fact that the other collie's outfits were so skimpy, she would've rendered North America's entire cattle population extinct with her leather fetish.
"Hi Stef. Looking for someone?" Hunter called out to her.
Stephanie Spam Collie, or Stef as she was more commonly known (no one knew if "Spam" was actually supposed to be her middle name or part of her surname, nor did she ever discuss how she'd received such a name in the first place), replied in her Chinese-laced English, "Actually Hunter, I am. You seen that hunk Superdog around anywhere?"
Hunter tried to keep from rolling his medium brown eyes. "No, I haven't. I just got here." He neutrally replied.
Her green eyes appraised him in a calculating manner. "I heard all about his performance in the training room and the gym the other day. So he actually beat the mighty Hunter in a footrace, huh? By the way, you look terrible."
"Well, I guess you could say…" Hunter started to mumble.
Stef didn't even give him a chance to finish. "He sounds like some dog. I wonder is he looking for a Mrs. Superdog? I can just imagine him taking me for a romantic moonlight flight over Paris…" Sighing with longing, she gazed dreamily off into space.
What Hunter really wanted to tell her was that he didn't know where Krypto was and didn't care, but instead he held his tongue. "Yeah, that's great Stef. Bye now." He left her daydreaming there, irked by both her taunts and the admiration she held for Krypto. Normally he would feel bad for any guy Stef set her eye on, since she had a well-deserved reputation around RRMC as an unpredictable control freak who went through boyfriends the way Shag went through buckets of fried chicken, but he had other things on his mind just then. And as far as he was concerned, maybe Krypto and Stef deserved each other.
He wound up locating the other four Alpha Rovers in the Game Room, which was where the Rovers went to unwind in their free time. There, Shag, Blitz, Exile, Colleen, and Krypto were sitting around a card table, apparently about to begin a game of cards. All five were dressed very casually (relatively speaking, since in Shag's case he usually wore very little or no clothes anyways). To Hunter's great annoyance, Krypto was sitting in the place that he usually occupied.
"You know, I've seen humans play this game before and always wondered how it went." Krypto said, clearly enjoying himself. Today he was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans, as well as a black baseball cap turned backwards.
"It is easy as pudding." Exile told him. "We show you how to play."
"Just don't let Blister see your cards." Colleen warned, getting a dirty look across the table from the Rover in question. She paid no attention to him, of course.
Hunter had seen enough, and turned to go find something to busy himself with.
"Hullo, Huntie!" Colleen cheerfully called out from behind him.
Hunter froze.
"Hey Hunter! Why don't you pull up a chair and join us?" He heard Krypto say.
Inwardly, Hunter cringed. He'd been spotted. There was no way he could play anything off… Or could he? Slowly he turned to face them. Sure enough, they were all watching him now and encouraging him to join them.
Forcing a smile, Hunter held up his hands and said in the best apologetic-sounding voice he could muster, "Sorry guys, but I'm a little busy right now. I was just on my way out actually." And before anyone could say a word, he was gone.
A bit dumbfounded and puzzled, the five exchanged glances before deciding to return to their game. Hunter's strange behavior lingered on Exile and Colleen's minds as Shag started shuffling the deck. Hunter loved a game of cards and would almost never pass one up
Krypto glanced around the table. "Hey, uh… you guys think Hunter's still mad over yesterday?" He apparently had Hunter on the brain as well.
"Nah. He's not the type to hold grudges." Shag reassured him as he dealt out the cards. "It's water under the bridge to him."
"You mean water in the pool, don't you?" Blitz snickered. Although his joke earned him disapproving looks from most of the others and an awkward twist of a smile from Krypto, he was undaunted. "What? That was better than Hunter's goofy bologna joke."
A few days later, the Master ordered the Alpha Rovers to Columbia to keep an eye on a prominent prosecutor. A Rover agent there reported that his informant warned of whisperings in the local underworld about a plot originated by a powerful drug cartel to kill the prosecutor.
Now, a motorbike was speeding through the city streets. The driver was clearly skilled, weaving around vehicles and other obstacles in the way. She was also clearly in a hurry, paying little heed to pedestrians, who were forced to dive out of her way or be run down. The driver's name? Candace Waken, or as she was better known, the Eliminator, a deadly assassin who was wanted in several countries. Sparing a glance over her shoulder, the woman could see the other motorist gaining on her. She cursed his name as well as the names of his friends, and wished she still had her handgun. A knife did her no good in this situation.
Gritting his teeth, Hunter hit the gas on his Cycle Rover, maintaining a white knuckle grip on the handlebars as he did. The Eliminator had nearly been successful in her attempt on the prosecutor's life. It was only the Rovers' timely intervention that'd stopped her and her team, the Elimination Squad. There was no way Hunter was letting her get away. He was counting on the other Rovers to deal with her henchmen.
The engines of both bikes buzzed like furious hornets as their drivers continued their game of chase. Eagerly Hunter leaned forward in his seat. Having not just the blood of several hunting breeds but that of a predatory animal in him, he was anticipating finally being able to close in on his prey…
… That was until a flash of white, red, and silver shot across the roadway in front of them and plucked the Eliminator right off her bike.
Caught off guard, Hunter blinked. "What -" For a moment, he wasn't sure if he'd really just seen what he had. Hitting the brakes and receiving an angry screech from the Cycle Rover's tires, he sat up and searched for the mysterious flash.
In the meantime, since it was no longer being manned, the Eliminator's motorbike crashed into the side of a parked fruit truck. Hunter cringed as the cacophony of metal smashing into metal reached his ears. It'd be really nice if the Rovers could go someplace and not leave collateral damage in their wake.
The flash revealed itself to be Krypto. He was hovering over the street, gripping the struggling Eliminator by one leg. Ignoring the enraged assassin, who was spitting all manner of angry curses and threats at him, he looked down at Hunter and flashed him a proud grin and a thumbs up. "Don't you worry, Hunter! I got her!"
At first Hunter could do nothing but stare, mouth wordlessly hanging open. Suddenly though, he found himself overwhelmed by a sense of deep annoyance.
"I'm gonna go take her to the police station! See ya back at the Sonic Rover!" Krypto shouted before flying back the way he came.
'I predict that I'm not going to have a good week.' Hunter sourly thought, watching Krypto.
Author's notes: I'm sure some people will recall the scene from "The Dog Who Knew Too Much" featuring Hunter fighting General Parvo's henchmen outside the Sonic Rover and say it's a case of his not being scared to be up in the air without needing to ride in an aircraft. And I suppose they'd be right. But Hunter's "too silly/casual/cool to care about anything" shtick in the show generally makes for one pretty dull character (sorry Hunter fans, that's just how I feel), and I wanted him to have a more realistic reaction to somebody wanting to just grab him and fly around a hundred feet or so off the ground.