Calico looked up from where he was slumped over the desk with a tired grunt. His normally authoritative eyes widened a little as he saw his wrists bound in chains. Was this prison? The door opened and he looked up to see a man a few centimetres taller than himself enter. He wore white flowing robes trimmed with dark blue lace and his nose and mouth were concealed behind a solid dark blue face mask. A face mask that resembled that of a plague doctor's outfit, curved at the nose like a bird of prey's beak. His skin above the mask was dark brown, burnt by years of exposure to sun and desert wind. His eyes were deep set under thick eyebrows, dark brown, almost black. There was no trace of mercy or warmth in them. he entered the cell with a dog following at his heels. Calico curled his lip. a wolfdog no less. At first glance, it could've been Gus, but at the man sat down and leaned on the desk, clasping his hands as his dog stood up on his rear legs, resting his paws and muzzle on the table, Calico could see it definitely was not Gus, lacking Calicorp's collar. Instead of brown, his eyes were a striking, cobalt blue, and the whites of his eyes, unlike the whites of Gus' eyes, were yellowed. If not for the husky fur colours and pattern he would've mistaken the dog for a wolf.
"ah, Calico." The man said as he sat down. "I am very pleased to meet you at last." Calico narrowed his mismatched eyes, the chains jangling and flicking as he moved his arms.
"if you wanted to meet me why not arrange it? why the chains?" the man scoffed a laugh.
"you are a very powerful person. With an impressive arsenal and a lot of loyal minions to operate it. as well as a pretty price in funds." Calico pursed his lips.
"provide me with the proper means of communications and I will arrange for any ransom to be paid." The man laughed.
"I'm not interested in your money. What I want is your weaponry. And I have reason to believe you have recently passed orders for new armaments to be made which would suit our purposes well." He settled in his chair as he proposed his ultimatum. "ship me 300 units of your finest weapons and armour, and an additional 420 units of ammunition rounds. Then and only then will I let you leave." Calico narrowed his eyes further.
"you will get nothing from me." He spat. "not even so much as a single cent of what those weapons are worth." The dog sitting beside the man growled fiercely. The man stood up from the table, slamming it with his hands.
"if you will not ship it, you will build it. and if you will not build it you will remain here until you are convinced otherwise." He thundered, leaning uncomfortably close to the businessman. "you have until tomorrow. Make up your mind." With that, he turned on his heel and left, his dog hurling a final growl in Calico's direction before darting out of the door as it banged shut behind them.
Murk sat in the back of his cage; his tail curled around him sadly as he wondered how it had all come to this. Paw steps alerted him and he looked up a little before he heard evil sounding laughter and stood to his feet, turning around to see who was there. His brows came down with distain as he saw it was the dog who had mauled him earlier. The wolfdog seemed to open his maw to speak and Murk immediately cut him off with an insult.
"hello you hairball." He said, his eyes narrow and slitted.
"it's called a fur coat. And it's the reason you'll never conquer half the distance we do." The wolfdog grinned deviously. "you lose, cat. It's over." Murk smirked.
"not likely, dog. Soon enough you'll meet your end when we all get out of here. And then it will be me playing with your corpse until the beetles devour you." He scampered to the cage door, his tail lashing with threat. The wolfdog tried to hide a smile, then broke into laughter.
"there's no way out of here, cat. Your pathetic company is outnumbered." The dog pressed his nose against the cage bars. "your fate rests in the hands of your boss. Either tomorrow you will go free, or tomorrow you'll be dead." Murk arched his back, his hairs standing on end as his tail puffed with threat.
"I wouldn't be so certain of your position, dog. Your life can be ended just as quick as you say mine can. Faster in fact." It was the wolfdog's turn to smirk.
"how'd you figure that?" he challenged, laying down in front of the cage so he was at eye level with the cat.
"now why would I want to spoil the surprise?" Murk smirked back at him, turning his back on the dog and pacing to the back of the cage.
"well forgive me for pointing out the obvious," the wolfdog began, standing to his feet and turning his back in a similar fashion, looking at the cat's cage over his shoulder as he wore a cocky grin, "but you're outnumbered by at least 12 to 1, with all your arms confiscated behind bars. So please, cat. If you're as smart as you're acting, please tell me a scenario in which you win that my pea sized brain can comprehend." Murk glanced back, an evil smirk coming across his face as he turned around again.
"your eagerness is your downfall, dog." He gave a sinister grin, slumping into his habitual evil slinking posture. "as we speak those weapons you wanted are being shipped to a base we were supposed to arrive at. When we're not there to pick them up, the whole army will mobilize. And then your odds are severely decreased."
"maybe cat, maybe." He mimicked the cat's posture, grinning evilly himself. "but tell me how you will possibly be rescued before the deadline of your death has come to pass."
"ah but the weapons are not all what you're expecting." The cat's smirk got wider. "when Calico doesn't show up on time, his ultimate atomic weapon will track him down. And then you will have to deal with his wrath. So my suggestion to you is that you let us go before you end up six feet under. Like the big shot super dog who thought he could take down a wolfdog." Murk spat his last sentence, hopping on the spot as he spoke, his tail lashing to and fro. The dog's face broke into a wide smirk, and then he roared with laughter more so than before.
"a 'super dog'! that's fresh cat, real fresh." Murk hid his evil grin.
"oh but it's true, a dog with the strength of 200 elephants, who can outrun speeding missiles, burn through solid metal, and tear buildings apart in a single bark, taken down in just a few days by Calico's own weapon. He killed Bolt, and now he's coming for you." The wolfdog smirked, scoffing under his breath as he got up.
"yeah, you keep telling yourself that, cat." With a sway of his tail, he was gone, leaving Murk chuckling under his breath in his cage.
Dakota smiled, glancing back at the room before nudging the door open with his head and leaving. He'd only wanted to taunt Murk, but the cat had told him more than enough.