Chapter 25: Attack brings Acceptance

Finding himself quickly face planting the dirt floor below him, Ralph winced as his head banged up against the ground. His neck instantly began to ache- partly from whiplash, partly from his old, raggy collar tight being in the death grip of the jaws belonging to the doberman.

Pinning Ralph face to the ground with an extremely strong force, the doberman knew she had rendered the large, strong dog practically defenseless- yet that didn't seem to be enough of a 'precaution' against this apparent intruder. Within seconds, she began growling low and terrifyingly in his ears- although this was muffled as she viciously shook his yarn collar side to side. The poor mastiff's head bounced on and off the ground and from side to side with great force of her shaking, making his vision spin in circles and his head and neck ache all the more.

Just when Ralph thought his shaking brain was going to come out spilling his ears, his knotted collar abruptly snapped loose off his neck, itself unable to take the force of the savage shaking anymore. His neck now free to fall, Ralph's head hit the ground once more, causing his headache to intensify and for moan of pain to finally escape his lips.

In disarray, the vested K-9 officer who caused the attack spat his nasty collar out beside her into the dirt, disgusted at its' filth and breakability. At seeing Ralph shakily beginning to raise his head once more, the doberman instantly jumped on him again- making Ralph wince once more. This doberman was small but surprisingly heavy- and seemed somehow twice as strong as he was.

With a pair to pointed paws that were planted hard right on his large jowls once more, the sergeant began her interrogation.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" The doberman questioned loudly in his face, still pinning him down into the ground with great force.

"Raowwwf," the mastiff was able to make out, more than slightly distorted by the sergeant's feet pressed hard against one of his cheeks and the dirt ground flattening the other.

"WHAT?! I can't understand you!" The doberman hissed angrily in response, pressing even harder with her sharp claws. "How in the fire hydrant did you even get into this fenced yard?! Don't you realize that this is a POLICE STATION K-9 UNIT?! DO YOU?!"

Wiggling a bit underneath her squishing, Ralph finally got his mouth free enough to form a semi-understandable sentence. "Geth off my facth for pethe's sakth and I'll thell you!"

To his surprise, the dog on top of him paused in her forcing squashing and eyed him intensely. Looking at her with the corner of his eye, Ralph could tell she was debating on rather she could trust him or not- and was leaning more towards the latter by each passing second.

Her small, pointed ears back in clear distrust and suspicion, the doberman hesitated but then finally complied. Lifting her paws off his face, she backed up a little so he could stand up- but as Ralph did, he could instantly tell her body was still tense, ever ready to pin him again if needed.

As he stumbled back up to his feet, the mastiff shook the attack off and breathed deeply. It felt good to have access to actual air again- well, as much as he did with the tight police vest on.

Eyeing the dog who was actually strong enough to take him down, Ralph saw that the demanding doberman was actually quite pretty in the face. Semi-masked by an uneasier, irate scowl she wore, he could see her soft, delicate facial features...

Although they still failed in comparison to that lovely collar still on her neck, he realized as his eyes drifted down to her good dog collar...

"State your reason for being here! Now!" the officer suddenly barked, making Ralph's gaze jump upwards again.

"Okay, okay, let me explain," he shakily began, searching for the best lie he could muster as he shook. "So, uh...you see, I'm, um-"

"Wait!" The doberman interrupted, stalking closer to Ralph once more. Tensing up and gulping, the mastiff mentally and physically prepared himself to be to jumped on again- but to his surprise, the fellow dog just leaned over and peered at the police vest he was wearing.

Gingerly sniffing the vest Ralph was bearly fitting into, the sergeant's face instantly rippled into repulsion. She'd been so busy attacking this dog's face -and his disgustingly weak collar- that she hadn't even focused on the fact he was wearing a vest. A police K-9 vest.

With one of her fallen men's names written on it, no less.

"Why are you wearing Markowski's vest?" She spat out, her voice not any softer. "He just got checked-out not too long ago."

Intimidated by her sharp, piercing glare, the mastiff could only stutter for a moment. "Well, uh- I'm his and, um-"

"He's Markowski's replacement, ma'am," Marco finally piped up, his golden fur shimmering as he crawled submissively over to his commander's side. "He came in early this morning."

"What?!" the doberman growled at his words, her head jerking to pierce into Marco as her ears sharply flattened again. "No one gets put on my force without me meeting them first. How'd this mutt get in here without me seeing him in the first place?! I was only gone for a quarter of the hour!!"

"I - I guess you just missed him, ma'am," Marco nervously replied, shrinking a bit deeper into his place.

At her men's words, the doberman just rolled her eyes. Nothing was missed by Sergeant Calhoun...especially with a dog as large as Ralph clearly was.

Turning to eye the dog in question again, the Doberman's dark eyes pierced Ralph once more with that...that look.

It was like she could see straight through the mastiff, straight into who he was- and was starting to freak him out a little.

Suddenly the sergeant began to make her way slowly in a circle around Ralph, her steps firm and strong as she examined him- clearly taking his appearance in. She narrowed her eyes as was she walked, deeply unsure about this mutt now elected onto her force. Especially without her knowledge.

"So...you're Kohut and Markowski's replacement, eh?" she mused as she walked, her eyes cutting into him from different angles. "We'll see about that...State your name. Clearer, this time, mutt," she hissed.

As she stalked around him, Ralph turned his head as he tried to keep up with the light-on-her-feet doberman- and her/hopefully-soon-to-be his collar. "It's, uh, Ralph," he finally muttered.

"Your rank?" She asked next, one eyebrow raised in ready response.

"Uh..." the mastiff responded dumbly before quickly blurting out one of the only police terms he was somewhat familiar with. "I'm a...captain?"

At his words, everyone in the dirt area gasped. Marco's golden jaw hit the ground in awe. Madge nearly face-planted the ground herself in shock. Even Mac couldn't believe had he had just heard.

Somehow Calhoun paused in midstep right before Ralph after his words, her face actually relaxed into an appealing look of amazment...and a look that almost seemed like a strange sadness.

Oh, no, Ralph thought in horror, his ears flattening in fear. What did I just unknowingly say?! Captain's probably one of -

"...The highest rank on a police force?!" Mac breathed, sounding beyond shocked. "For real?!"

"Wait!" The sergeant of the force abruptly commanded as she came and stood in front of Ralph- her eyes piercing him with the look. "You're...a Captain?" she inquired, suddenly not a hundred percent believing it- let alone accepting it. "On what force and of what town?"

"It would have to be Sugar Russia, Sarge!" Maddox gasped out, looking at the other dogs around as she wagged her tail. "Our fill-in was coming from there, remember?"

In the town of what? Ralph thought blankly. He didn't think he had never even heard of that town before- except for when cops inside... said he was supposedly from there...

"Oh yeah," he connected before blushing. Deciding he'd pushed his luck this far, he continued in his lie. "Yup, that's my town, heh."

"Wow..." Madge looked around at her colleagues, all eyeing the mastiff with large, impressed eyes. "That's easily the toughest K-9 force in the whole state- especially with the mutated scorpion rate there!"

Gulping, Ralph forced himself to nod in agreement, deciding he could go with that... He just hoped that they believed it more than he did.

The sergeant before him continued in her looking into his eyes- that strange look of pain somehow visible in her eyes again.

"You're the Sugar Russia K-9 unit Captain?" she asked suspiciously. "I've never heard of a bull mastiff being of that rank before...and no offense, but I can see as to why." She paused to give him an up-down. "Especially not for a force as tough -and strict- as Sugar Russia's."

"Well, I am," Ralph answered as bluntly and non-suspiciously as he could, puffing out his chest in false pride. He silently prayed that his words would settle the question of his 'title'.

"But why would they send you here, as a fill-in for mutts who don't have any ranks yet, no less?" The level-headed sergeant asked, her voice clear she wasn't so quick to buy the act. "Aren't you greatly needed over in Sugar Russia right now?"

"Well... my team heard you guys needed help over here and so we sent, uh, the best of the best over to help, you know, with the... er, scorpion problem," Ralph answered- beyond shocked at the ease of the lies rolling off his lips. "My, uh, sergeant has got the team covered back home while I'm gone."

Boy, I'm getting pretty good at this lying stuff, he thought silently, forcing his tail not to go into a happy wiggle. I even semi-believed myself there...

At his words, the doberman slowly nodded, seeming to be thinking over his words. Something still seemed off about this whole thing...but who was she to question a superior like that?

Her harsh eyes losing their intensity, her soft face suddenly began more somber in appearance than before- and it was clear to Ralph that, although she was still a little hesitant about him, his lying was starting to be believed... and better yet, accept as truth.

"Well then," the sergeant began, her tone softer and more professional than before- and even apologetic. "I genuinely ask pardon for my uncivil assault on you earlier, solider. I was merely protecting my troops and myself from a deemed intruder, as I am sure you understand."

"Uh, yes. Of course..." the mastiff answered her in a like professional way- although he was inwardly trying to sort through what half of her words meant.

With their strong leader now being accepting of this newcomer, Marco, Madge and Mac came crawling over to where Ralph stood- the only ones able to recover from their shock and now beyond embarrassed for their attack on their unknown 'captain'.

"We are soooo sorry about everything, buddy," the golden wagged his tail slightly in intimidation, looking ashamed as he tried to apologize for their earlier behavior. "Had we known you had such a high rank, we would've never, well...you know-"

"Never what?" his sergeant interrupted, turning her attention towards her subordinates with an almost mock paternal look.

The others failed to answer her -although their shrinking back and muted whimpering was more than she needed to know. Shaking her head silently, the doberman instantly was annoyed- and even a little ashamed her troops.

"I don't care what rank a dog may have on this or another force, soldiers," she reminded with a growl. "You always treat a fellow officer with the utmost of respect- which I'm assured you all did while I was not out here..." she hissed pointedly at her further shrinking unit as they cowered back.

Ignoring their whimpering, Calhoun then turned her attention back to the make-believe captain.

"I sincerely apologize for my troops' actions and any possible indignities you received from them," she rolled her eyes in an attempt to be good-naturedly. "I'm sure they were merely acting out of ignorance...as I'm sure you at times had to deal with on your force as well," she mentioned- and for the first time since they 'met', the doberman actually let loose a small, gentle...even accepting smirk.

In return, Ralph could only shrug mutely- not knowing how to handle having had 3 sincere apologies directed to him in one day. That was more than he had received all year.

"Name's Sergeant Calhoun," the doberman then formally introduced herself to the mastiff- her body language completely calm and relaxed, yet still strong and poised for action. "I'm the leader of this force, although I'm positive you already knew and/or figured that out..."

And although she tried to hide it, a look of clear, somehow unselfish pride surfaced on her usual hard face. "And I must admit- I am honored to be in your presence, sir."

Her demeanor changing abruptly as she pointedly eyed the rest of the dogs around her, Calhoun jerked her head forward- indicating her troops approach. "TEN-HUT!"

As they scrambled forward in reply to her order, the group quickly formed a clean, sleek line before Ralph. And before he could say another word, the fellow dogs sat up tall and dignified- all were facing Ralph this time. Instead of fear or anger, a look of seriousness filled all their faces

All nodded pointedly and in unison at Ralph, all traces of earlier anger replaced by reverence for their new leader... and by a look Ralph thought he'd never see directed towards him: pure acceptance.

"We're all honored to have you here aiding us, Captain Ralph," Sergeant Calhoun said as she took her place before her troops, nodded in agreement as well. "And it's my absolute privilege to welcome you to temporarily serve here on the fine unit of Hero's Duty."