Disclaimer: I don't own your soul. Yet.
"Evil runnin' through our brain,
We and evil's about the same.
Bad blood through our body flows,
Where's the love?
Nobody knows."
- Evil; Earth, Wind & Fire
K-Niner growled as he strode down the long bleak hallway. It was draped in decorative things: skulls, roadkill, weaponry, vivid disturbing drawings of what the insides of Pet Force looked like, sounds of tortured souls, and generally all the things that made his master happy.
But the festive manner of the lair was lost on the warrior, seeing as how his head still rung from the torment he'd endured only moments before after Vetvix had brought him back to his upright form. He'd gotten a long speech/rant about his failure against Pet Force, but luckily she was giving him a second chance, since apparently she needed a good general to assist the new warrior and didn't feel like creating a new one. But that didn't save him from a half hour chewing out.
Curse those blasted tattletale servants of hers. It wasn't HIS fault the plan backfired! He would have succeeded if Vetvix had listened to him in the first place. Curse Pet Force; curse them all to the fire pits. Fangs clenched in the standard menacing manner of the Doberman, or six foot mutant Doberman with dagger fangs, to be precise.
As he approached his quarters a sound drifted into his ears. Not the sounds of classical music, truly one of the more glorious forms of song, but another kind of music. Something...that wasn't supposed to be there.
As he got closer the pounding notes (if he could even CALL such atrocities notes, sounded more to him like rabid jackals going mad by a full moon) drummed in his brain, heavy and bleak. Rock music. Eyes hidden behind a helmet of bronze turned to a crimson red, the shade of red from the blood of whatever horrid creature caused that horrid sound to be made.
But, turning, he discovered the music was not coming from his quarters, but instead from a room across the festooned hall, the skull of some unknown creature hung above it, words in a strange language written across the brow. He was positive a room hadn't been one there before, but then again, he HAD been away for quite some time.
K-Niner's first instinct was to storm into his own quarters, slam the door and jam cotton in his ears, but curiosity soon got the better of him.
As he entered he was entranced by some strange emotion somewhere crossed somewhere between astonishment, indigence, envy, and even more curiosity. The room matched that of a Dune temple, complete with fantastic statues, gems, furnishings, marble, ancient scrolls, and anything else one might find in a desert temple. But besides all things, something else captivated him more.
There, on a bed in the middle of a room was a jackal, a female jackal, to be exact, sitting cross legged, eyes closed in meditative silence on a bed swathed in a black satin comforter, decorated in glistening silver hieroglyphics similar to the ones engraved on the skull above her door. The loud music he heard would have been expected to be coming from a stereo the size of a small planet. But instead they came- from tiny headphones lodged in the jackal's rather large ears. They vibrated violently from the degree of volume, making her gold ankh earrings rattle and ring. How such large ears could tolerate such intensity without going deaf was unfathomable.
The warrior crossed his arms in a rather unhappy way, glaring down at a luxurious rug. Whether he was outraged or jealous, it was hard to tell. It was probably both.
"Who is this, what is it doing next to me, and WHY does it have a better room than I?!" He thought aloud, in a hushed voice, positive he couldn't be heard making such an immature remark over the blaring melody.
The music came to a sudden halt. Piercing golden eyes snapped open and stared in his direction. They were completely devoid of emotion as she began to speak.
"I'm next to you because apparently the turtle-crow seems to loathe us both. I've better quarters because I am a better warrior. One would assume that a genetically enhanced 'genius' could figure that on his own. But that's what I get for making assumptions, I suppose. Ah, well. Can't always be right, can we?"
For a moment the Doberman of Destruction was speechless. No one in Vetvix's forces- no one ever had spoken to him in such a way.
The jackal's long tail wagged, "Awwww, wassamadda? Puppy can't speak?"
At this remark, he placed strode over to the jackal, pulling himself at full height, so that she had to crane her neck to see his face. "Madam," he said in his slick British accent that held menace behind a polite veil, "I shall have you know I am one of the most trusted members of Mistress Vetvix's forces, a true warrior of skill. I believe I have a right to know whom I address."
At this, the stranger stared at him for a bit, little sparks of mischievous interest seemed to dance in her golden eyes. Although K-Niner sought to keep a straight-faced intimidating manner, it was proving hard to do so. Never had he seen such a look in anyone's eyes before. Never. It was almost as if those mischievous sparks were about to spring out and do whatever little evil sparks do. He guessed it would not be fun. His ears twitched in discomfort as the jackal looked up at him calmly, then slowly levitated off her bed so that they were at muzzle level. A long, winding, mad, evil grin crept across her face.
"A warrior of skill? Ha! Honestly! Don't make me laugh. You sound more like a polite butler. Someone more likely to offer tea and crumpets to the enemy than inflict any actual harm."
That did it. Lady, or not, this ingrate had to learn some manners. A great muscled paw sprung out and rushed for the stranger's throat. Anger turned to astonishment as the paw halted in midair, twisted around, and honked his own nose like a clown's.
Ignoring the disgruntled Doberman's bewilderment, in fact ignoring the incident altogether, the jackal continued.
"As to the concern of who I am, I am known by many names: the Angel of Chaos, Master of the Sands, Bringer of Darkness, She Who Runs With Shadows, Matriarch of the Canis, and my particular favorite: run for cover, here she comes." She leaned back in midair, stretching her limbs in a relaxed manner and extended a casual paw. "But, for diplomatic purposes, you may simply call me Nefer-tut."
"Nefer-tut?" echoed K-Niner. He ran the name through his enhanced brilliant mind until the meaning came to him. "Ahhh, beautiful evil."
"Ah, you know the language of the sands. Mayhap the puppy is not so dense after all. As for the name, I certainly didn't choose it."
"Yes... I was rather displeased then Mistress Vetvix named me as well, but-"
At this point the calm nature of Nefer-tem vanished as she suddenly dropped back into her soft comforter and gave way to a fit of laughter. If one could call it that. It more resembled the wild screeches of someone gone completely insane, only contained in a small chortle.
K-Niner folded his arms "I fail to see what is so funny"
"You. You honestly think that I could be ordered, much less created by THAT hack?! By the sands, dog, you insult me! She came to me, practically begging for my aid. That too, is why my room is better than yours, by the way."
A being with magic more powerful than the evil vet? Now he was interested.
"Anyway, my mother gave me that name. The last part I can deal with, but not the beautiful part. Too- unfitting."
"Really? I think it fits you rather well," said K-Niner with a charismatic smile.
The jackal blinked at him curiously, wondering if that was sarcasm, some kind of instinctive chivalry, or if perhaps he was merely being sincere. She decided not to waste any time thinking about it. "You know the old language, do you? I suppose Vetvix gave that to you as an added bonus?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps not."
Nefer-tut yawned- revealing a pale lavender tongue resting between row upon row upon row of razor-sharp ivory fangs- and slid down off her fancy pillows to the marble floor for another stretch.
The Doberman raised his eyebrows in astonishment.
The way she moved was unearthly (ignoring the fact they weren't on earth in the first place) moving with a silent, deadly grace, looking much like some sort of liquid, the lights caught her smooth ebony fur, giving her the illusion of a long shimmering trickle of oil spilling onto the ashen marble. She wagged her long, slim tail at him casually, looking up at him with brilliant molten gold eyes, forcing K-Niner to avert his gaze. It was like staring into the sun, look too long and go blind, though in this case, he suspected one would go either mad or be permanently entranced. He didn't fancy finding out which.
He licked the side of his muzzle nervously. Besides, the way she was lying on the floor like that was somewhat... distracting. It wouldn't be gracious to stare.
Nefer-tut flashed another fanged sly smirk at him as she lay there. "So. K-Niner, to what do I owe the 'pleasure' of your company? I would assume that one with your genetically-altered genius such as yourself would not get lost, especially seeing as how my room is straight across the hall. The key word here, of course, is assume"
The Doberman smiled coolly, sensing the insult was a good-natured one. Perhaps she was adjusting to him, the aloofness earlier was only a formality for strangers. They said she was a deity of trickery (among other things), after all. In truth he didn't accept the claim she was some kind of goddess for one minute, but anyone with any sense knew this Nefer-tut held great ancient power more than worth considering. Besides, ancient evil or not, she was still a lady, and being the polite bloodthirsty, vicious creature he was, she was deserving of utmost chivalry.
"My dear lady" he said in his most proper way of speaking "I simply wished to see who occupied this room, it's been empty for a long time, and you must understand my natural wish to investigate."
The jackal nodded and signaled him to continue.
"They tell me you're from ancient Kempt, what do you think of this century?"
The black jackal sat up in thought, waving long silver waterfalls of hair from her face. "'Tisn't bad. I have seen better, in any case. A bit disappointing, really; too much machinery and technology for my taste. Technology should have stopped with the chariot, if you ask me. I do enjoy the music, though. Very nice. I suppose some things will never change, like Necro for instance."
"Necro?" asked the Doberman.
A new sharp voice snapped, "That's Necrofeere to you, poochey! Me, Necro, the bone terror, the one about to rip off your pretty helmet head if ye keep standing on my tail!"
Startled, K-Niner looked down to discover a living dragon skeleton about the size of a cat with dark, deep chasms for eyes that now had the faint reddish glow of anger. The little dragon hissed as a steel-toed boot lifted off its long tail. In a blur of white and clatter of bones it flew to Nefer-tut's shoulder. It then spat a blue fireball at K-Niner's head, leaving his metal helmet charred and glowing red from the heat.
"Isn't my sweet widdle Necro just pwecious?" cooed the jackal as rubbed her pet's chin affectionately. The creature arched his back like a cat and made a purring sound created with the rattling of his ribcage.
K-Niner coughed up a puff of black smoke. "Delightful"
"Of course! Who else to keep my mistress comp'ny all these centuries?" said Necro.
Suddenly the sphere hanging overhead began to flash a bright red, as did K-Niner's communication unit located on his arm.
"I do believe we are being summoned"
The dragon rolled its nonexistent eyes, "Really? Figure that out all by yourself?"
Gorbull growled at K-Niner's feet as the two canines waited in the lair of the evil veterinarian. Necro was curled around his master's neck in slumber, cerulean flames occasionally flickering out its nose when the dragon exhaled. K-Niner inwardly pondered how a skeleton could exhale in the first place, trying to ignore the snarling mutant at his heals. The jackal stood beside him gazing indifferently at a tank full of carnivorous mutant fish and a frog/newt.
The double doors flew open dramatically and Vetvix strode into the room in full glory and placed herself in front of a large pane of glass, a smile of pure anticipation plastered across her face. Gorbull made a happy sound at his master's entrance, then went back to growling at K-Niner.
"Ahhh, a fine night for evil! Nefer-tut, K-Niner, I trust you both are ready to get started?"
"We are" replied K-Niner, bowing. Nefer-tut gave only the slightest nod in greeting.
"Now," said the vile vet "I've only a half hour until the new weaponry arrives, so I'll make this quick. Pet Force has arrived."
At the mention of the heroes, the Doberman's titanic jaws clenched, eager for battle. The glass pane shimmered, shone and warped until a rather blurry image of Emperor Jon's throne room appeared.
"A looking glass?" the jackal inquired with slight amusement.
"It's all we've got for now," muttered Vetvix in an irritated tone "I used to have an excellent crystal ball, but that horrendous Garzooka destroyed it"
"And he would be?"
"The big orange muscle bound idiot arguing with the little gray annoying idiot."
At the sight of Pet Force, the growl in K-Niner's throat rumbled even louder, his fangs bared, glistening in the fluorescent light, fervent and anticipating his chance at revenge. Vetvix explained who each of the figures assembled in the throne room were, leaving out what powers the superheroes possessed at the jackal's request, who insisted she would relish the battle more if their abilities came as a surprise.
Nefer-tut moved closer to the glass for closer inspection and tapped the image of the emperor.
"So this is the currant ruler of the universe, is it? He looks and sounds like a pushover, a weakling, a bleeding heart, a dotard, an ignoramus, and one with apparently no knowledge whatsoever of the meaning of the word 'fashionable'. A craven, flinching little thing. I would say he is a useless invertebrate with no more backbone in him than a fluff of cotton, but that would be a compliment, and one of the highest standard at that!"
She tossed her lengthy tendrils of silver hair over a shoulder in disgust.
"Why, he is nothing but a sniveling mouse hiding behind a throne he does not deserve! Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic! I recall the glorious days when rulers were strong, proud, ruthless! Nothing and no one would ever dare challenge them, lest they were eager for a slow and agonizing death on the black wings of torment. They were wise, fierce, noble, zealous, strong, cunning, and always knew exactly what they were doing. This monarch is barely even a sad, sad parody, an insult, and a travestied mockery of the glory of what the word sovereign once meant! How utterly pitiful, how sad. How this universe has not collapsed in on itself is well beyond me, and that is a very rare occurrence.
Vetvix smirked. She liked the way this jet ancient spoke. Very much so. "So you see why you are needed dark one" she hissed in an oily voice
"Indeed. If the best bet you have is this fancy butler pup, than I most certainly am."
At this remark, K-Niner shot her a cold glare. She ignored him and went on.
"I haven't seen a good battle in a good long time, I'm assuming this "emperor's" army is at least somewhat strong, yes?"
"If it wasn't I would already be in power"
"Hmmm." A long malevolent smile slithered across Nefer-tut's face that made even Gorbull cringe. "Gooood."
"I'm glad you see it that way, Nefer-tut. With both you and K-Niner on my side both Pet Force and the rule of Jon will soon be nothing but a memory! Now, go carry out the plans for a new order the likes of which the universe has never seen! The rule of Emperor-"
"Empress" corrected K-Niner
Vetvix paused in mid evil speech. "What?"
"As a female, you would be an empress, not an emperor."
The vet fixed her creation with a threatening glare. "You dare to tell me what I already know?!"
"Did you know that?"
"I- well- Oh, just go forth with your mission! I don't have time for this. The battle cruiser and my soldiers are waiting for you. I'm confident you will not fail me."
The two canines gave a nod and began to leave.
Necro suddenly awoke and looked around him, blinking in confusion. "Wait! Could you explain the part about- everything?"