Chapter 26: Hero's Duty

At their approving salute, Ralph felt himself smile. A real smile for the first time in a long, long time. And that thing on the end of his body could no longer be control anymore as it nearly whipped him it wagged so fast.

He'd never felt so good before. This was better than having a brand-new squeak toy or the freshest treats, even better than pats from the human cops. It was greater than anything Ralph had ever received in his life.

This must be what it meant to be a real good dog, he thought in bliss- and decided that would work just fine.

The mastiff basked in all the glory of being a real (well, not real) captain- and had no idea all the love and attention he'd get from it. Good dog collar or not, it was absolutely great as the others stood straight to actually honor him; Ralph just soaked in it all with great ease.

He felt cocky, happy- and more of anything else, completely invincible...

Which is why he might've blurred out without thinking: "Uh...Hero's Duty? What's that?"

Her easy smile falling immediately, Calhoun eyed him- her eyes narrowing and giving him the look just a little bit.

"That's the name of this particular K-9 unit here in Arcadia...," she answered slowly, suspicion and doubt starting to fill her face again. "You didn't know that?"

"Oh, right," the mastiff blurred out quickly as he gulped- his mind frantic for a suitable answer. "I knew that; I was just, ah... testing you. Yes, you know, as captains do."

Don't be so stupid, Ralph, he quickly reprimanded himself. And don't ask such captain "obvious" questions, even if they aren't so obvious to you. Just go with it!

But in response, Calhoun just smirked good naturally- her doubt easing a bit like a look of pride cane upon her face. "No need for 'testing' here, sir. I've been on this force for years now, and I'm slowing earning my way to the top. I aspire to be captain of my troops one day as well..."

At her last words came from her mouth, Ralph couldn't help but notice her eyes had darkened and even saddened again. Her look of pride slipped from her face as well- replaced by a faraway look of slight remorse and, once again, pain.

What is it with her and the word 'captain'? the mastiff wondered curiously. Why does she respond to it the way she does? You'd think she'd be happier about it...

Physically shaking off her brief look of gloom, Calhoun made her collar dance around a bit on her neck- catching Ralph's eyes once more.

"Right, that's great," he rushed out. "They told me that you're head honcho on this force in Sugar- uh, my town... Hence, why you have a good dog collar?" he asked eagerly- shocked at how clever he had weaved her collar into the conversation.

A smile once again pulled at the corner of the doberman's lips as she eyed down at her beautiful, well-earned collar.

"Precisely, sir. I earned it just a month back. And it's my pride and joy- as all well-earned collars are..." she trailed off suddenly when she eyed his neck, surprise and perplexity surfacing on her face. "Where's your collar, sir? You have to have one being captain of Sugar Russia... right?"

Before he could stumble out some sort of an answer, a loud, harsh ringing noise suddenly started blaring, stringing Ralph's ears painfully. Bright, red floodlights began to flash on and off repeatedly at the station's back door- and a loud, booming voice came screeching over an old intercom.

"CODE RED! CODE RED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" a human's voice blared loudly on the speakers. "THE MUTATED SCORPIONS ARE INVADING THE HOSPITAL ON PAC-MAN LN! ALL REPORT FOR DUTY! ALL K-9'S WILL BE NEEDED! I REPEAT- THIS IN NOT A DRILL!"

Every dog that was frozen still in their respect for their new captain all suddenly abandoned their post. Each one broke out into a wild frenzy, running every which way and yelping as they did- making Ralph even more tense.

"Alright, mutts!" Calhoun called out to them all over the red flashing lights, loud automatic beeping and complete chaos. She immediately kicked into sergeant mode and began giving out commands, running every which way to every which dog.

"IT'S GO TIME! Macro, go grab some extra leashes in one of the kennels and bring them up front! Maddox, get your tail-hide back over here- and get ready in your positions already, Madge! You heard the intercom, folks- this is not a drill! So stop the whimpering like it is one and get yourselves ready!..."

As the sirens continued to blare and the hysteria before him slowly became more organized thanks to Calhoun, Ralph just blinked and shook- having absolutely no idea as to what was happening... but none of it could be good.

During it all, though, he couldn't help but pause to be amazed at how a doberman more than half his size could take such charge of this chaos- and be so calm about. It was clear Calhoun was a natural born leader and an excellent commander, impressing Ralph greatly as the other animals sought to fulfilled her direct orders.

"Mac, go stand ready by the east gate- that'll mostly likely be where we head out from. Everyone else," her voice continued to boom loudly and demanding, "man your stations at the kennels! We must ready when our human officers come and load-"

To the shock of all those around her, Calhoun stopped suddenly- stopped yelling, stopped running, stopped everything. She just froze in her place- something her troops had never seen her do before, especially in not such a stressful, demanding situation.

Turing to bashfully eye Ralph, the doberman humbly nodded his way.

"I'm deepest apologies, Captain. I'm used to taking the lead and giving the orders around here," she said lowered her head, rushing over to stand by his side under the blazing siren lights. "You are allowed to lead these troops into action," she nodded again. "I'll watch and assist."

At her words of direction, Ralph couldn't hold back a large, horrified gawk.

WHAT?! he thought, mortified as he subconsciously backed up. I actually have to take charge of all this? I can't do that! I'm not trained for that!

"Uh, well- um, that's okay," he stumbled out, desperately trying to find a way out of having to go against his nature and actually bossing this other dogs around "I've been, you know, leading all week, so, ah - oh! And these are your troops, after all. So, you can lead them this time. I'll, uh, allow it," he gulped weakly, silently pleading with her not to make him lead these crazy mutts in such a serious situation. "I'll watch and assist you."

Clearly shocked, Calhoun eyed him curiously- and wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"But you have more experience with the mutated scorpions, sir," she told him- more like stating a fact that a reminder. "You've had to tango with them far more than we have here in Arcadia."

Gulping, the mastiff's shaking just increased.

I'm not 'tango-ing' with anything that starts with 'mutated' and ends with 'scorpions', he rejected quickly.

"That's, uh, correct...BUT you know this area better than I do...so it makes more sense for you to lead us here," Ralph slowly pieced to together a better excuse- painfully trying not to sound desperate.

Raising an skeptical eyebrow in his direction, the doberman started to peer deeper into the grimacing mastiff- unsure of what to think of his supposed logic.

"...Alright then," Calhoun finally answered, surprise in her voice- and a look of growing distrustfulness surfacing on her face. "I'll command them to victory, then..."

Wasting no time, however, she ignored her doubts and ran into the middle of the group of dogs, her presence strong and demanding. "OKAY, PUSSYCATS! LISTEN UP!"

When everyone turned to glue their eyes to her, the sergeant continued as Ralph wearily watched on and listened.

"We all know what happened, folks," she said monotonously. "A top-secret experiment, lead by some wacko scientist, has gone horribly wrong- leading to a mass spread of mutated scorpions."

Pausing dramatically for effect, the strong doberman eyed her troops with valor- no hint of fear on her face.

"But remember: because of that experiment, we are humanity's last hope in the town of Arcadia. Our mission? Destroy or capture all mutant scorpions before they destroy the whole city. There's no in between, no backing out, not giving in and running away; we must stand and fight!"

"YES, MA'AM!" The troop of pooches before her called out determinedly.

"We must be ready at all time, and ready for anything that may come, even DEATH!" She paced back and forth of her subordinates yet, eyeing them courageously as they sat obediently before her.

"YES, MA'AM!"

"And if we do perish, we will die honorably for our town. Because WHO ARE WE?!"

"HERO'S DUTY K-9 UNIT, MA'AM!"

"I must have some kitty fuzz in my ears, 'cause I can't hear ya! LOUDER, MEN!"

"HERO'S DUTY K-9 UNIT, MA'AM!"

His eyes wide, Ralph cringed as the greatest -and most terrifying- pep talk he had ever heard drew to a dramatic end.

Wait- who said anything about... death?! his mind panicked.

Suddenly the station door leading to the yard opened up again, exposing many of the armed human officers Ralph had seen earlier- only this time with their full uniforms on and weapons in tow.

In front wearing a strong, heavy helmet was Officer Croft, leading the pack of K-9 humans officers as they rushed over to get the canines and hurry off.

As Officer Croft approached her, Sergeant Calhoun sported her trademark smirk, her body tense and ready for action as her leash got clipped on the back of her vest. Poised, the doberman's eyes danced off a cowarding Ralph, who was also getting his leash on- although he seemed less than enthused by it.

As the mastiff looked desperately over to her for help, their eyes met- and that's when Ralph regrettable saw the look of excitement -and murder- clear in Calhoun's dark, piercing eyes.

"Let's go get our kill on, captain."