The Alliance

The dimly lit diner sparked twinkling lights over the grungy, faded pearl white tables of the little restaurant. Faces old and young surrounded the run down diner, seemingly oblivious to its dark, rusted yellow walls and it's stingy, brown colored stains plastering over tables, chairs, and even the ceiling. This was a place anyone could enter and yet no one truly wanted to. Darts Diner was one of crappiest 24 hour open diners in all of Chicago.

And Professor Selene Rose couldn't have been happier with her location……

A husky, white haired officer wobbled his bloated gut and stumpy 2 legs through the crowded tables and red brown colored chairs. The oversized man grunted with obvious disgust on his sagging, potato colored face, his cheeks looked like sagging wrinkles on a birthday balloon. Officer Frank Dowell plopped down his oversized rear end onto the light green colored seat coverings of the booth.

Frank frowned "I'm missing the American Idol finale for this lady, so you better have a damn good reason for getting my ass up off the couch".

Rose smirked "I assure you Officer Frank, this is well worth it. You're going to be begging for my spooky science once I".

Frank bitterly interrupted "Get to the point Yoko I'm a busy man, now what the hell do you want? And why did you have to tell me in this rat hole?".

Rose replied "Because the last thing I need is some half drunken lynching party chasing after my Pulitzer Prize specimens. I'm here to inform, not broadcast, now take a good look at this".

SLAM!

The female professor slammed her hand onto the table, her fingertips were concealing the object. Frank half interested, lazily gazed his dull blue eyes to see what was under Rose's hand. The object appeared to be a small plastic bag with a scientific label on it. Inside the small bag, a clump of orange fur mixed ever so lightly with a white stripe.

Rose smirked "What you are looking at is the future of science and anatomy, the greatest scientific discovery in the history of mankind. So, what do you have to say?".

A dull, quiet stillness painted the sulking, sagging mounds of Frank's face as he picked up the fur sample and stared at it blankly. Frank angrily scowled a hateful glare at the woman's face once he properly examined the sample.

"A fur ball, are you freaking kidding me? It's a hair ball you dumb ass! How the hell can this be the greatest scientific discovery, my cat coughs these up every day you spaced out twit" Frank shouted.

The scientist snapped back "It's NOT an ordinary fur ball you bloated buffoon, this fur is unlike anything I've ever seen before".

Frank shook his head "That does it, I'm out of here".

Rose protested "WAIT, wait, just hear me out. I ran some tests on this thing, this fur sample has high concentrated strands of animal DNA. When I back checked for animal matches, only one was found, a fox".

Frank mockingly clapped and cheered "Bravo, bravo, stop the presses, we got fox hair balls in Chicago. My wife's gonna pop when she hears this".

The woman angrily growled at the officer's obvious insults and sarcastic remarks, each insult drove deeper into her now flustered, and furious red cheeks. Rose slammed the table down again and jerked Frank's face into her jade colored fingernails, tightly crushing her grip over his collar as she spoke.

Rose hissed "I'm not finished yet dammit, there's more. After some closer examinations, I discovered multiple strands of human DNA inside this fur sample. The same strands that grant us intelligence, individuality, even some our more advanced learning traits, there all inside this little ball of fur. This is no common fox, it's a new species, a creature unlike anything on Earth".

Frank sighed "Look, that's all well and good, I'm sure the Brookfield zoo will be jumping out of their pants over this, but I really don't give a rat's ass".

Rose gasped "Are you mad? You're a cop for god's sakes. If my research is correct, there could be even more of these super creatures. They could be extremely dangerous to the public's health, what more do you need?".

The cop slapped down a piece of paper in front of Rose, the woman curiously examined it. The paper was a mug shot and rap sheet. The mug shot photo was of Matt Barson, Rose almost gasped at the man's face.

Frank explained "What I need right now is this guy, name's Matt Barson, and we've been busting our asses all over looking for this guy. He was last seen leaving the highway crash during that freaky light show, his car was one of the trashed vehicles we recovered".

Rose blinked "Wait a minute, if you have his car then shouldn't you already know where he is? I mean his license plate information should trace back to his home address".

Frank nodded "Yeah and it would have, if it was HIS car he was driving. The plates are registered to a Lawrence Lamario, Matt's old boss. It was reported stolen that very same night.

Matt was fired from his job and decided to hotwire his boss's car out of spite, he ditched the car after he crashed it on the highway. We think he bought a used car afterwards. It's not likely he'd be on foot with so many cops after him".

"Why, what else has he done?" Rose asked.

Frank half laughed "Get this, has been suspected to be responsible for causing 2 riots according to some sketchy eye witness reports. One at FAO Schwartz and the other at the Dead Plug bar last night. Before that, he was a successful journalist for the Chicago Tribune till he caught his wife screwing around.

The divorce ended in a mess, and he was restricted from going near his wife or his kids ever again. He's been doing random odd jobs on the side, and drowning himself in booze almost every night, or so his boss claims".

The shocked expression on Rose's face finally stirred the half mumbled, ramblings of the bloated officer. Frank could see a sparkle of shock and surprise glittering in the woman's eyes like Christmas lights.

Rose smiled "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it".

Frank blinked "What are you talking about?".

Rose smirked "Last night, I think I saw this very same individual walking out of the Dead Plug bar, just minutes after it was trashed. I saw 4 short, furry looking people walking him home. If my hunch is correct, our goals are one and the same".

"You're psycho babble's starting to bore me Rose" Frank groaned.

Rose continued "Don't you see, that fur sample I collected was located barely a foot away from the highway crash site".

Frank shrugged "So, we found fur balls just like yours on some of the cars, so what? Probably just road kill or something".

Rose shook her dark haired head "No don't you see, this is exactly what I am talking about. These creatures are far more advanced then any species of animal recorded. The toy store, the dead plug bar, the highway, there all connected, and I bet you anything Barson has the creatures I'm looking for".

Frank laughed "Please, give me a break. You're starting to sound like those nut ball witnesses, claiming they saw walking talking animals. One guy says a rabbit smashed his car's engine with just one punch, it's all garbage Rose".

Rose grinned "That maybe, but I believe these creatures are real, and I'm willing to make a bargain with you just so I can prove it".

Frank raised his gray eyebrows "I'm listening".

Rose explained "I know where this Matt Barson is. I can tell you exactly where he is and what you'll need in order to catch him, but you have to agree to take me along with you".

The pudgy cop frowned "Oh yeah, and what's in it for you?".

Rose frowned "If I'm wrong about these creatures, you can arrest both me and Barson, I won't even try to fight. But if I'm right and these creatures are real, then you will sign over full custody of these creatures to me and provide full police protection for my lab so that I can properly study them".

Frank frantically replied "You know I can't agree to something like that, I could lose my job".

Rose crossed her arms proudly "And if you don't, you could lose Barson and your whole case would go down the toilet".

The large cop bit his lip and feverishly sweated as he rubbed his brow, his overweighed physique weighing heavily as his mind raced for answers. Frank swallowed heavily as his thick, tanned neck flexed nervous muscles.

"So, what's it going to be Frank?" Rose eagerly asked.

The sweaty cop stared at the female scientist, with a glaring look of disgust and regretful defeat, the potato faced man sighed in defeat. Frank extended his hand to Rose and nodded his head.

Frank bit his lip "You've got one shot Rose, just tell me what to do".

To be continued……