Realizing that the strange visitors weren't Mormons after all, Mrs. Cooper tiptoed to the phone and quietly picked up the receiver. The male Sentinel detected her, however, and with a slight wave of his hand, caused the phone cord to yank itself out of the wall.
The duck woman's hopes faded along with the dial code. Summoning her courage, she confronted the two Sentinels and asked, "Who are you people? What do you want with Vanessa?"
"Your son, or rather your daughter, was contaminated by the explosion of a unicorn horn," the female Sentinel answered coldly. "Unless we promptly isolate her in our special facility, she'll most likely change into something unnatural, or even inanimate."
"She's not going anywhere with total strangers," said Mrs. Cooper firmly.
"There's no time to argue," said the male Sentinel, seizing one of Vanessa's coal-black arms while his companion took hold of the other. "Stand aside, or we'll have to demonstrate our power."
"Let me go!" cried Vanessa, struggling vainly to break free.
"Don't let them take her!" Arthur begged Mrs. Cooper. "You'll never see her again! They tried to take D.W. away from us!"
Looking around the room for an object she might use as a weapon, Mrs. Cooper snatched up a ceramic vase, tossed out the flowers and water, and hurled it at the female Sentinel's head. Her aim was impeccable, but the robed unicorn woman deflected the projectile with a glance. The vase shattered on the floor, Mrs. Cooper threw up her hands in desperation, and the two Sentinels dragged the screaming Vanessa through the front doorway.
Just as stopping them seemed hopeless…they stopped.
On the street before them stood a small army of dogs, at least ten in number. Foremost among them were a fierce-looking female greyhound, and a male pit bull with sharp, unusually long claws. A long-haired Shih Tzu with a canine wheelchair attached to its hind quarters took up the rear of the group, glancing back and forth between the other dogs as if issuing mental orders.
As Arthur and Francine approached the Sentinels and their prisoner from behind, they noticed the presence of another, more familiar dog—Pal, who was witnessing the standoff from behind a juniper bush.
"It's the X-Pets," Arthur told Francine. "Pal must have seen the Sentinels and tipped them off."
Apparently cowed by the snarling dogs, the male Sentinel learned over to his shorter companion. "We don't want innocent people to be hurt," he whispered. "Let me negotiate with them." The female unicorn nodded.
Don't be afraid, Francine heard a soothing male voice say in her head. They're no match for us.
The greyhound began to bark angrily. "Get your hands off her," the Sentinels understood, "or we won't stop until there's nothing left of you but blue puddles."
The male unicorn responded in an ethereal howling voice. "You don't understand," he pleaded his case. "She's undergoing random magical transformations. She needs treatment, and quickly."
"Then you'll have to treat her here," the greyhound barked.
"We don't have the proper equipment," howled the Sentinel. "It will take time to retrieve it—time we may not have."
"Then I suggest you leave now," said the dog.
Without another word or vocalization, the two Sentinels released Vanessa from their grip and sailed swiftly away, following the sidewalk. The black swan girl rubbed her chafed arms and sighed with relief.
"Thanks," said Arthur and Francine together as they waved at the dispersing X-Pets.
We'll be watching you, said the voice of The Professor in their minds.
As Pal and the other dogs scurried out of sight, Arthur and Francine led their shaken friend back into her house. "What do you think will happen now?" Francine wondered.
"They'll come back in greater numbers," was Arthur's opinion. "We should find a place to hide."
"You've seen them all before," said Vanessa nervously, "the people in the robes, the dogs…what's it all about?" She felt an odd, pleasant sensation as Arthur took her hands and lowered her onto the couch.
"The Sentinels tried to steal D.W. when she turned into a unicorn," the aardvark boy recounted. "And when Dark Augusta was coming, they tried to kidnap me and Francine to preserve the human race."
"They sound horrible," said Vanessa. She swallowed, and a lump made its way down her long neck.
"By the time they come back, we'll be long gone," said Mrs. Cooper, who was fumbling with the phone cord in an attempt to restore service.
Vanessa gazed wistfully into Arthur's glasses. "You'll stay here and protect me, won't you?" she said sweetly.
"Of course," replied Arthur with a friendly smile.
Seeing the exchange of tender looks between the two made Francine grimace with disgust. "What?" said Vanessa, tearing her eyes away from Arthur. "Is it wrong for me to enjoy looking at a handsome quack?"
"A handsome what?" said Arthur.
"Quack quack quack," was Vanessa's response.
As Francine and Arthur gaped in confusion, Vanessa widened her eyes and put her hands over her throat. Why am I quacking? she wondered. I sound just like a duck.
"Are you all right?" Francine asked her.
Vanessa tried to say, "I don't know," but only quacks came from her mouth.
"I don't think she's all right," Arthur remarked. He looked over his shoulder at Mrs. Cooper, who was engaged in conversation with the police.
Vanessa began to gesture frantically with her hands. "Quack quack quack!" she uttered. Spotting a pen and pad of paper on the desk, she bolted across the room and began to write. Arthur and Francine gasped when they saw what the girl had written: "I can't talk! I can only quack!"
"You'd better see a quack…er, doctor," Francine suggested.
"Quack quack," mourned Vanessa, throwing down her hands in despair.
"Omigosh," said Arthur with sudden alarm. "It's the magical contamination thing."
Equally alarmed, Vanessa put her hands over her beak, quacked silently a few times, and began to write again: "What if it's contagious?"
to be continued