Chapter 36: Breaking News

The disheartened corgi flopped down his head in his blue fuzzy bed, sighing as he did...only to bolt back up to his feet again.

Suddenly, his mind fasts forward to an even worse gut-wrenching revelation.

Regardless of whether or not the pet shop is now closed...we're still not truly safe in any event, Felix quickly realized...

Because upon seein' that Ralph isn't at the door anymore on guard...and that the shop is closed...the nutty animal scientists would have even more of incentive to break-in. And they would even attack Mr.Litwak if they're brazen and desperate enough to take the animals...

The corgi's stomach churned...and he started to shake all over again, perhaps even worse than before as he faced a simple yet profound fact:

He, his fellow animals, and even Mr.Litwak and his beloved niece were no longer safe anymore. Not by a long shot.

And they never would truly be again...

Not without their amazing guard dog around.

Quickly stumbling out of his puppy bed, Felix began to pace the floor in front of the desk. His large ears became stuck out of the sides of his head as he tried desperately to come up with an idea -any idea to find Ralph.

There has to be a way we can find him, the corgi thought in distress. There just has to be...

Above him to the side, the small box tv was still on, this time replaying some cheesy soap opera show, one Felix knew that Stefanie sometimes watched in the middle of a slow day at the pet shop.

Still pacing, Felix paid the show no attention, half wishing Mr.Litwak would come and turn the tv off so that the near panic-stricken corgi could think more clearly.

A sudden bright light came flashing from tv, however, lighting up the room. Dramatic, ear-catching music began to play, enough to cause the pacing corgi to pause.

Peering up at the screen, Felix saw that the cheesy romance show was now cut off and was replaced by the same newscaster that had been doing the news earlier. The words BREAKING NEWS!!! were scrolling strikingly at the bottom of the screen.

"This just in, folk," the newslady said, sitting at the newsdesk with a frazzled look on her face. "It has just reported that a live outbreak of mutated scorpions is on the loose at Arcadia's First Memorial Hospital. We've gotten word that people are still inside the hospital and that the K-9 unit squad of Hero's Duty is on the scene. Let's go there live where reporter Don K. Kong is on the scene. What can you tell us, Don?"

The screen cut to a tall, lanky news reporter on the scene at the hospital, the same frazzled look on his face as the one the newslady had back at the studio. He clutched a handheld microphone and spoke as calmly -and excitedly- as he could.

"Yes, Nina, I'm live here on the scene of where the outbreak is taking place just inside the hospital. The situation is just too dangerous for the police forces and even the corresponding firefighters to venture inside yet and kill the creatures with water force.

"However," the man continued shakingly, "as you mentioned, Nina, the Hero's Duty unit of police dogs is on the scene as well and ready to infiltrate the building. We spoke to the head chief of the K-9 unit, Office Croft, just moments ago and received more information."

Shaking his head in detachment, Felix sighed as the screen cut over to previously shot footage of a strong looking female officer.

Not really hearing her words of action, the corgi just blocked the whole scene out and continued to try and figure out just how he could find Ralph.

His soft corgi heart did go out to people involved in the situation at the hospital, though; he'd vaguely heard of just how nasty -and possibly deadly- a bite from one of those scorpions could be.

Just before he was about to turn around and start pacing again, the camera cut down to a group of canines sitting at Office Croft's feet...

And suddenly Felix' eyes began to blink. Twitch in shock. He shook his head once or twice to clear it from any possible fuzzies that might be in his eyes and blocking his vision.

But as he stared up at the tv screen, Felix felt his eyes widen at one and only one certain animal sitting in the shot all at once.

"RALPH?!?"