The rest of the Rover team juggled their priorities with care. Muzzle, the lion, cornered the two audience members with Blitz as the lion tamer in the three-ring circus. Hunter and Shag? Shag was currently following the ringleader's orders to toss anything he had in storage up at the flying acrobat.

But another act was soon to follow. "I am coming, comrades! And this time, I heat things up!" And he saw red. Bright red eye beams burst out of his eye sockets as they shot upwards to where Warp was hovering.

Exile's target instantly felt the hot effects against his back. "Ow! Hey! YOU again?!" He turned his weapon onto Exile now. "Y'know, you're starting to make me feel hot under the collar there, buddy. Why don't you cool off for a change?!" He fired off another round of shots at the Rover.

The Rover's beams met with the agent's shots and they exploded in mid-air. Both opponents growled and intensified their attacks.

Exile stared down Warp again with his heat vision, but he missed.

Warp blasted another round at Exile, but he missed. "Ah, craters. Looks like I'll have to wear him out before he wears me out," he said to himself.

While they dueled with light and heat, the other Rovers took shelter behind a tree and scrambled to multiply the odds for their side.

"You SURE you're not carrying around any extra missiles?"

Shag snapped, "Itoldyanoalready!"

"Alright, alright, just double checking!"

Shag and Hunter worked on trying to refill the launcher with a brand new missile, but with all of the contents stored in Shag's fur, this proved far easier said than done. Not to mention there was only so much missile power Shag could, and willingly would, carry around before something accidentally went off in this deadly game of laser tag.

"Then we'll need something smaller and less blowy-uppy. Something portable. Something bouncy. Something super chewy and - hey that's it! Shag, do you happen to have any tennis balls and the other launcher on you? I'm feeling like playing catch with this guy."

The sheepdog grinned, liking what Hunter was thinking.


Meanwhile, Blitz and Muzzle were doing some scrambling of their own.

Scrambling and chasing down Parvo and the Groomer after they somehow slipped past their guard during the middle of the action. The two raced neck-and-neck after their enemies, the hunters pursing the the hunted.

"Come back hier, you cowards!" Blitz took a big swipe at Parvo with his claws and then another, barely touching Parvo's back yet nearly causing him to trip.

"Ow! That smarts!" Parvo growled as he cast a glance to his partner. "When we return to our ship, I want every weapon that hasn't been damaged in the crash online to exterminate these pests at once!"

"Aye, sir!"

"And I also want the ship ready to... !" The air rushing through his throat swelled within his throat and he breathed heavily, which was a sign of-

"Oh no, not now! Not this second!" His coughing fit taxed on his body, reducing his running to a jogging.

"General!" The Groomer grabbed Parvo by the shoulders to hold him up as he pushed himself forward. She looked back at the Rovers behind her before making up her mind and offering, "Sir, I can hold off the Rovers while you retreat to the ship. Take my handbag with you! I've stocked up on more lozenge."

"Is it the cherry flavor?"

"Aye."

Immediately, Parvo took the handbag from her and coughed, "Very well, Groomer. Take care of these fleabags for me!"

"I will, sir!" She let go of him as he went on ahead, leaving her behind. She turned on her heel and stopped dead in her tracks to face off against Blitz and Muzzle. Fists out, feet apart and fierce determination etched onto her features.

"So you have decided to fight us then. Excellent! I have been looking forward to a little action all day and now I will have it," Blitz challenged, his fangs and claws shining in the sun.

They circled each other like prizefighters in a boxing ring, waiting their opponent to make a move.

"You both have been bad dogs. Bad, BAD, dogs! I'll now teach you how to behave!"

"Not if we do it first!" To that, Muzzle snarled in rare agreement with Blitz.

And it was Muzzle who jumped forward first, with open jaws and paws out.

At the same time, Blitz rushed second, with open jaws and claws out.

And lastly, the Groomer ran last, with nothing more than her fists and wits.

Blitz and Muzzle went for her hands and face respectively while she went for their noses. Who would triumph?


"That's the last one. Load it up, buddy!"

Shag did as his leader asked and the new launcher, a light gray cannon with a large and dark gray muzzle, was now full of tennis ball ammunition.

"I'll distract Warp and get Exile out of there. When I come back, you blast him!"

"Yougoitunter!"

Hunter leapt out from behind the tree and using his super-speed, he sprinted towards his friend. "Hey, Exile! Need a lift? You look a little wiped," he said in reference to his friend rubbing his dry eyes.

Drained from using all of his energy spent into shooting his eye beams, Exile wasted no time in saying da. "Let us return to safe place." Hunter grabbed his arm, hoisted it around his shoulders, and took off fast.

Warp followed their movement and grinned. "Well, well, looks like I called it. He's starting to tire out and needs help from his buddy. Perfect timing, Warp, you sneaky devil." He trailed above them in the air, positioned his arm until it was facing the duo, and shot again.

Thankfully the blasts missed the two and they retreated to the tree just in time. "Now! Bombs away!"

Shag jumped out and fired at Warp. Two tennis balls burst out like lightning and thundered right in front of his face, causing him to recoil from the smoke and light. "WHOA!" The surprise attack nearly brought him down but he was just as quick to recover. He glared down below. "Now they're going with ball bombs now. How cute."

Banking starboard, he circled around the tree to gain an advantage over them. He spotted the canine freaks, took a dive and attempted to shoot them again.

All Rovers moved to the other side of the tree and continued to shoot tennis balls bombs, but Warp managed to evade them. "You mutts will have to do better than that to bring this sly devil down! Why don't you use something original?"

Over the shooting, Hunter yelled, "Because we don't have anything else, and you're not the first psycho we've had to deal with!"

"Psycho? Now that's not a nice word to use! I prefer the term, 'smooth criminal'!"

Exile shouted, "You are not smooth! You are just criminal!"

"AndnotthesmoothkindMichaelJacksonsungbouteither," Shag muttered.

Another blast from Warp's cannon.

"How many bombs do we have left, big guy?"

Shag dug deeply into his fur and pulled out one to show Hunter. "Onlyoneleft."

"That's our last one?...well, let's make this one lucky. I can make that happen with my super-luck."

"How you do that, comrade? Make things turn out dokey-okey?"

"Nothing to it, really. I just touch it and it'll turn to gold. Get it?" He was met with blank stares at his try for a joke during their drastic moment. "Uh... never mind. Let's just load this sucker up and call it a day."

Picking up the launcher, he was about to place it inside when he spotted a sight in the green distance. "Guyslookoerthere!"


"Oof!" Blitz wiped his mouth and took another punch at Groomer, succeeding in making her fall before she was headbutted in the back by Muzzle. The first time he tried clawing her, she wound up blocking every one of his attacks. She wasn't a cano-sapien, but she was strong enough to prevent his attacks with her cunning and agility.

Muzzle initially didn't have much luck with fighting her either. Even if she was terrified of his infamous talent to tear everything up to pieces, she wasn't allowing him or Blitz to come near her partner. But their luck was starting to change.

Blitz whirled around and sent a double kick to her stomach, sending her flying into the grass.

Muzzle ran towards her and pounced, attempting to try and bite her again. But she saw him coming and rolled out of the way in time for Muzzle to land on nothing but empty space. She leapt to her feet and delivered a punch to Muzzle. Or tried to. He merely chomped onto it and held her hand in his teeth tightly.

"Hey-! Let go of me you flea-ridden ollphéist!" His grip felt worse than needles piercing the skin.

That was now Blitz's chance. He grabbed Groomer's other arm and pinned it behind her back. "We got you now! Get down, crazy dog! We got to bring her back to the others!"

But Muzzle was still hanging on like a tuna caught on a hook. Now it was a struggle between all three of them.

The Groomer trying to escape. Blitz attempting to pry Muzzle off so they could take her in. Muzzle holding onto her and refusing to let go.


"Looks like Muzzle and Blitz have got the Groomer! Let's finish this up and then go get them. Shag, ready the launcher!"

It was ready.

"Aim. Hold it... hold it... fire!"

One more tennis ball. It flew towards Darkmatter. But it missed and was heading right towards Blitz, Muzzle and the Groomer!

The rest of the Rovers and Warp gasped. It was the latter who acted fast by flying downwards and firing a laser blast at the tennis ball.

The ball neared the trio, and they had yet to notice it was coming.

The laser and ball made contact, and a large, white and blinding flash took place.

The Rovers all took cover as the flash exploded and expanded like an ocean wave.

Silence.


She was on the run again, having chosen to flee while she still had the chance.

And he was on the hunt after her, picking up her scent through the long grassy field. Even if he wasn't feeling one hundred percent from the explosion with the way it left everyone slightly incapacitated, his heart was pumping with energetic fury.

The Groomer's own heart was leaping with joy, as the ship before her was no longer invisible, a safe haven for her to reach. She neared the ship, with Muzzle biting after her heels. "General, I'm coming! Open the door!"

But fate, ever fickle as it is, intervened. Just barely able to reach the ship's ramp, she tripped over a rock that went unforeseen.

She could hear his raspy breath from behind, and out of fear, covered her head for what was sure to be a horrible attack.

And it was there that Muzzle decided to make one more effort to bring her down. So he sped up his momentum and leapt into the air, with open jaws and anger. He came closer and closer, and the Groomer's heart pounded-no, burst-out of her eardrums.

"Not today, mutt!"

Muzzle whined in pain as he felt something hot press against his side, catapulting him high into the air.

And the last thing he saw before he faded to black was a large and hardened tree trunk coming towards him fast.


The Groomer frowned as she realized... it was quiet now. With the exception of a winding jet pack.

She removed her arms and looked behind her.

No Muzzle.

But there was that blue humanoid standing there, landing behind her. She watched as his wings retracted back into the pack.

Smirking as only Warp could, he suavely introduced himself, "Looked like you could use some help. Name's Warp Darkmatter, at your service." He gave a gentlemanly bow towards the lady in red, and he liked what he saw: a human with flowing raven hair and emerald eyes, and an outfit composed of only the most deliciously evil colors of red and black. Plus that helmet she had on her head was kind of attractive too.

The Groomer regarded him with her eyes, up and down. And instantly, she recognized him-the blue humanoid previously frozen in the block of ice by Exile. He was geared from head to toe in red like herself (with purple accents instead of black and gray). But the most noticable detail of him entirely was the cybernetic arm attached to his right shoulder, which instantly made her think of her employer's own prosthetic limbs.

She slowly stood up onto her feet and brushed herself off. A hum reached her ears and she looked up; she knew that sound.

The ship behind the two of them came to life, prompting them to face it. The door opened up from the top of the ship's ramp to reveal a much healthier-looking General Parvo, standing with hips akimbo and ready to fight another day.

And stare down Warp. "Salutations, Mr. Darkmatter. My name is General Parvo, Groomer's employer. I must say, that was quite an entrance you made there. You're very quick on the draw." The general walked down the ship's ramp to greet Warp, all the while keeping his eyes on him. He didn't like the look in his lustful eye. "I suppose we should thank you for what you did to save Groomer from that psychotic mongrel," Parvo nodded towards the unconscious dog, currently still and lying on his side near the tree.

After glancing over Muzzle briefly, Warp furrowed his eyes in deep thought, as if thinking to himself about Parvo's name. Realization then dawned on him. "Ah, so you're the Parvo I've heard about from those mutts. Well, I suppose I ought to say that it was nothing; I'm just happy to do my job." He smirked as he folded his arms. The human before him resembled more of a wrestler than some high-ranking officer in Star Command, and he probably was in his off-time. The black tank top and tanned pair of pants the human wore didn't appear to be material fit for a 'general'.

Although Warp did appreciate the silver limbs look.

Parvo smirked tightly. "So I see. And a very good job at that."

Seizing the chance to steer clear of the blue flirt, the Groomer asked in concern, "How are ye feelin', sir?"

"Feeling like ready to take on the world! Or better yet, ready to take over the world. Thanks to you." He smiled appreciatively at her, and she returned it.

The warmth Warp could feel emanating from the duo made him sick, but he kept his commentary to himself. "So... take over the world, huh? You work on the fun side of evil too, huh?"

Puffing his chest out with pride like a rooster, Parvo clarified, "Not evil, Mr. Darkmatter. Profitable. I happen to be a businessman, head of Gen-Par Industries."

Now this was a piece of information the agent didn't see coming. Holding up a hand to pause Parvo, he asked, "Hold up a micro-second. Did you use 'profitable' and 'businessman' in the same sentence?"

"Yes... I did. What of it?"

"Well, General, it just so happens that my employer feels the same way you do. He's the Evil Emperor -"

"Zurg? Yes, I kind of figured that. We saw the whole thing unfold back there. Your employer knows how to drive a hard bargain against his opponents, but I wouldn't have taken him to be a business type right off the bat had it not been for your confirmation."

"Oh, my boss is full of surprises, and so much more. If you'd like, maybe I can introduce you to him so you two can have lunch? I think you'll like what he has to offer."

"I'm afraid as interested as I am to hear what he has to say, we have something more important to focus on." Parvo waved a hand to his ship. "Our ship was damaged in a crash landing and we need the tools to fix it."

"What's the damage, sir?"

"The power source. Our engine's been entirely shot, and our communication systems among other things. We don't have any way of contacting our allies to come get us or give us aid." He was addressing the Groomer more than Warp.

Warp himself was looking over the ship. It was a silver model, in the shape of what appeared to be a bulldog with a sharp shark-like fin attached to its back. Its glass shield up in what he presumed to be the ship's bridge was glaring at him through its 'eyes', which matched its no-nonsense expression as only a bulldog could pull off. Only now, the dog looked ready to call it quits with the rough patches and dents it went through on its voyage.

Overall, the agent thought the ship's design to be odd, but whatever floated Parvo's brand of badness. "That's not a problem. We have the latest in ship technology to make your spacecraft as good as new."

Parvo raised one rough eyebrow. "Do you now?"

"All for a price of little to nothing. Which I'm sure, speaking from one evil worker to another, you might find very appealing."

Parvo lightly scoffed. "Pah! In a business deal, there is a price to everything, even if it isn't in the name of good. But seeing as how we don't have any other options, and since you did save my partner, I'll have to take your word for it. So can you get in touch with your Emperor Zurg ASAP? I don't want to be seen by those Road Rovers again."

"And I don't want to be seen by those Space Rangers again, so I'll get on that now. Excuse me, big guy." He went a little aways from the couple and the ship to reach Zurg on his communicator.

Making sure that Warp was out of earshot, the Groomer asked in a low tone, "General, are you sure this is wise? I'd rather trust a rattlesnake than I would him and his employer."

"Now hold on, Groomer, let's not get too carried away here. We don't know what this emperor is like, so we'd best keep our eyes and ears open. We do need supplies for our ship if we're to leave this place and return home to HQ, and he might be our ticket out. Besides..."

He cast his eye across the green-infused horizon, looking past its whimsical and colorful personality. "I want answers. And I think Warp and his boss can give us them."


The small group coughed and hacked as the smoke filled their lungs.

But it slowly cleared away, thanks to both a natural process in the water cycle and Ty, for the latter ran through the smokescreen, breaking it further as it dissipated into thin air. Colleen followed behind him.

"And 'ere I thought we were in a no-smoking zone. Everyone alive?"

The fresh air entered their lungs and everyone could now breathe easily.

After coughing her last cough, the first to recover was Simone, who was still on the ground from her earlier encounter with the bushes. "Yes, I'll be fine. Is everyone else okay?"

Triffid followed suit. "I will pull through, my friend."

"As will I." That was Elana.

And last but not least. "Yeah, I'll live! Which is more than I can say for Zurg when I get my paws on him next time I see him," Pix snarled in the direction Zurg fled like the coward he was.

Ty was helping Simone get off the ground, and after she stood onto her own feet, he sternly eyed his fuzzy team member. "IF I give you the order to go after him, which I won't. Pix, what you did earlier was not commendable, and I'm very disappointed in you for it." He crossed his arms and stared her down, and it made her feel like throwing her tail in between her legs.

But not for long. "What? What for?!"

"When Triffid was taken hostage by Zurg and you leapt into action without thinking of what could have happened! You should have listened to my orders. When I tell you 'NO', you don't jump into things!"

"What?! I jumped in because I was doin' my job! Besides, how's it different than what you do?! You jump into things too!" Pix didn't bare her teeth, but the temptation was there.

"Because I was doing my job; trying to get Triffid out of danger and not leaping before thinking! He could have been killed by your actions!" Ty might have been aware that Triffid could hear everything he was saying, but at the moment, he was too angry to care what he thought.

"But he was saved, wasn't he?! So why does it matter if I leapt in without thinkin'?! When you gotta act, you gotta act!"

"Even if his life was on the line?!"

"Alright that does it! Break it up you two!" That was neither Ty nor Pix, but Colleen, who was soon joined by Simone. The two of them stood in between the two Rangers, with Colleen in front of Pix and Simone in front of Ty.

Colleen had her hand on Pix's snout to keep her from talking back. "Shoutin' 'bout what happened ain't gonna fix things here. We gotta focus on somethin' more important - like where are we and how do we get back home?"

Simone had her own hand on Ty's arm. "Colleen's right. What happened has happened and there's no use looking back on it. We need to- wait... what do you mean, 'where are we'?"

No longer irritated with one another, Ty and Pix also tuned into Simone's confusion.

"Exactly what I mean. If Elana and Professor Triffid haven't 'eard of us, and if you guys haven't, then I can only figure one thing - we're in some country on Earth we've never been to, which is the more likely scenario... or..."

Ty asked, "Or what?"

"We traveled to an alternate universe where Twoey took over the world." She hooked a thumb towards the Rhizomian landscape. The silence she got informed her it was probably the former.

"...Who?"


A/N: Translations:

Hier: 'here', in German.

Ollphéist: 'monster', in Irish.