Dwayne drove up to Quark Tower, waiting for the doctor to come out. He was almost regreting asking her to the dance for he knew that Jo would annoy him about it for quite a while after this.

'She's always teased me about my feelings for Doctor Slate. I've always wondered why? What are my feelings towards the doctor? I don't even know anymore,' he asked himself.

While he waited inside the car for Doctor Slate to come out, he turned towards the moon and narrowed his eyes. He thought he saw something in the light of the moon.

"Must be my imagination or something like that. I'm seeing things now," he muttered.

"Is there anything wrong Lieutenant Hunter?" came a female voice.

Dwayne turned his head back around to see Doctor Slate standing next to the car. He didn't hear her walk up to the car and he mentally reprimanded himself for it. She was wearing a light pink sleeveless dress and her hair was pulled back into a bun.

"You look beautiful tonight Doctor Slate," he told her,

"Thank you Lieutenant Hunter. You look handsome yourself," Slate replied.

She climbed into the car and the lieutenant began to head towards the dance hall. Along the way, Slate glanced over at Dwanye, who appeared to be worried.

"What's wrong Lieutenant?" she finally asked.

"Nothing important. I'm just worried about Tera," Dwayne replied.

Slate gave a smile as she turned to face the street again.

"I agree with you but you know we can't do anything to help her just yet. Justin and Jennifer have already said that so it sounds like we can but they won't let us yet," Slate told him.

Dwayne remained quiet when she said the names of the two cats and she noticed it. She decided not to say anything else about the two cats at the moment as they continued on.

00000

Dwayne and Slate walked into the building. She was glancing around at the many different people milling around the room.

"I didn't realize how many Army personnel were in New Tronic City," she said.

"There are more than some people realize," Dwayne replied. "Still, the Big Guy's out back in the event that Mudman decides to show up here."

Slate nodded in reply as he heard the sound of a piano float through the air. She turned in the direction the music was coming from and Dwayne followed her lead.

"Beautiful song, don't you think? Wonder who's playing it?" she mused.

"Yeah, it is very nice," agreed Dwayne.

They both soon got their answer as words soon joined the music being played. The two listened to what the singer was saying.

"Whatever the song is, I like the lyrics," Dwayne mused.

Slate was only half paying to the lieutenant at that moment as she was listening to the voice singing. She gave a small smile as she soon recognized it. She turned back to the lieutenant to find him humming to the music.

"Lieutenant?" she questioned.

Dwayne broke out of his reverie and blushed as he looked at the doctor.

"Sorry about that Doc," he apologized.

"It's fine but that sounds like Czarina. She would be here for something like this?" Slate wanted to confirm.

"I guess that since she was in town, they'd get her to help out with the entertainment. Care to dance?" Dwayne asked her.

She nodded and they headed out onto the dance floor. They didn't see the Pit Crew standing on the sidelines. Jo smiled to herself once she saw the two dancing together.

"And he said he wasn't going to bring someone so he ends up bringing Doctor Slate," she muttered to her friends.

"We're so going to have to annoy him about this," Garth agreed.

"Whatever," Mack said.

The older man was leaning against the wall, head down. Jo glanced back at him and gave him a small smirk before she continued to listen to what Czarina was singing.

"I'm heading over to see how Czarina's doing. I'll be back in a few minutes," Jo told Garth and Mack.

The two men nodded before she headed towards her friend. Czarina was just about finished the song when Jo reached the piano.

"Nice song Czarina," Jo told her.

"Thanks Jo. Glad you liked it. Just hoped others did as well," Czarina replied.

"Haven't seen too much of you lately 'Rina," Jo told her.

Czarina could see the slight curiousity yet anger in her friend's eyes.

"I've been busy Jo. Coming back to New Tronic City wasn't completely pleasure for me. I had agreed to do some work while I was here. The main reason I'm here tonight is because they really wanted me here," Czarina replied. "Please don't be angry with me, my friend. You might know that working for the country's greatest hero sometimes keeps you or takes you from the things you'd rather be doing. What I do is no different."

Jo glanced at her in mild surprise and Czarina didn't see it. The two walked over to Garth and Mack, who glanced over at them. Their stares then turned past them and the two women turned to see Doctor Slate and Lieutenant Hunter standing behind them.

"Nice to see the two of you again. Lieutenant, it is good to see you back on your feet again," Czarina told him, a smile on her face.

"Thank you for your concern," he replied.

Dwayne couldn't help but laugh at the pun she made, considering that one of the last times they saw each other, he had a cast on his leg.

00000

Justin ran towards a building as Jennifer fired her gun at the creature made entirely of mud. Hapar watched them from on top a nearby buidling, laughing.

"You can't destroy him! This is not like the mud on our home planet. He is made from this planet's soil, even despite the fact that our magic helps him take shape. Your weapons won't work against him!" Hapar yelled at them.

"We know more about this planet than you do. How do you know that we don't know how to stop it?" wondered Justin.

"Because I know the two of you that well. You may know more about this planet than me but you don't know everything," Hapar replied.

He lunged for Justin, who dodged, causing Hapar to hit the building and leaving a dent in the wall. He growled as he stared at the two cats. He gave them an evil smile as he watched the Mudman walk up to them from behind and grabbed them around their necks. Justin and Jennifer squirmed to free themselves but to no luck.

"You see, nothing can stop me now, not even you," Hapar told them.

Jennifer glanced at the figure holding onto her before shooting it with the gun still in her hand. It recoiled, letting go of the two. They both fired at it, the blast forcing it to back up into the wall.

00000

The small group soon found themselves talking together when a slight rumbling began to form around them.

"Do you hear something Lieutenant?" asked the doctor.

"No, why?" he replied.

"It sounds like one of the walls is breaking," Slate replied.

Dwayne looked at Slate before hearing the noise himself. The group turned around to see the wall was indeed breaking and the Mudman was standing within the rubble. There were a few screams amongst the scrambling as Justin and Jennifer ran into the building though the hole behind the mud creature.

"Looks like they need backup, let's go people!" Dwayne told his crew.

The three nodded before running towards the back of the building. Czarina and Slate watched them leave. The singer narrowed her eyes before running towards the front of the building. Slate didn't realize this right away and when she saw the singer hurrying away, she instantly became worried.

"Czarina, where are you going? It's not safe!" Slate cried out.

"I'll be fine! Trust me!" Czarina cried back.

Slate was surprised when Czarina said that and turned her stare back towards Justin and Jennifer facing the Mudman. Women were around her, screaming while the men tried to figure out a way to stop the creature. Slate was wondering about the situation when the Big Guy walked through the hole in the wall.

"So, did you miss me?" asked the robot.

Justin and Jennifer watched Big Guy as he walked up to the Mudman and punched a hole right through the midsection. Justin looked between the two before finding his way up to Big Guy's shoulder.

"You can't beat him alone Big Guy. You will need our help," Justin quietly told him.

"What?" the robot said in slight confusion.

The Mudman brought an arm up and hit Justin, causing him to fall off of Big Guy before punching the robot in the face, making him retaliate. The figure of mud backed away from the group of three, towards Doctor Slate. Dwayne saw what it was doing from inside the cockpit.

"No!" he cried.

He moved the Big Guy forward only to be stopped by a blast to his chest. He looked to see Jewel slowly flying down to the ground, with Hapar close by.

"Nice try but you can't stop us," Hapar told him. "Go get her Mudman. She's important to them. I have to find out why. "

The Mudman nodded, subsequently heading towards the doctor. She began to back away from him as he advanced. He thought about running but soon realized that it was useless. Big Guy tried to get to her but found he was stopped by Jewel and Hapar.

"You can't help her," Hapar told him with a snicker.

The creature was just about to pick up the doctor when she disappeared from before him. He looked from side to side before glancing up to see Tera hovering in the air, holding onto Doctor Slate. She glanced back at the pterodactyl, glancing down at her arms to see the streaks of bone.

"You forgot about me Hapar," Tera told him.

"Oh no. I haven't dear Tera. You see, I managed to fool your guardians and yourself. I wanted to get you out into the open for I have a surprise for you," Hapar coldly replied. "Jewel, you know what to do."

The eagle lowered Hapar to the ground as tera cautiously flew over to the Big Guy, Justin and Jennifer. She lowered the doctor to the ground and stood behind the two cats.

"I'm worried. They've got something planned," Tera quietly said.

"I was worried about this as well but I didn't think he could actually do it," Justin agreed.

"Do what?" asked the doctor. "What are they planning?"

Dwayne carefully watched the scene before him from inside the robot. He tried to stick close to Tera for he didn't know what to expect.

"Now where did Jewel go to so quickly? Hapar's here but where's she?" he wondered to himself.

Dwayne watched as Tera flew higher into the sky but was shaken out of his concentration when something hit him from behind. The Mudman continued to hit the Big Guy and the two were soon locked into a fist fight. Justin aimed a gun and fired it, hitting the Mudman but it didn't faze him a bit. Justin growled as he glanced over at the doctor. Slate was staring into the sky, watching Tera. Jennifer joined her gaze, worried that something might happen.

"Jennifer, where did she go to?" Tera called down to her.

"I have no idea," Jennifer replied.

"You'll find out soon enough," Hapar suddenly put in.

Tera glanced down at the bug as Slate glanced around the area for a moment before seeing something in the distance.

"Look out!" she cried out.

Tera turned around enough to see Jewel flying straight at her. She grasped Tera's 'arm' and leg in her talons and laughed.

"You were on your guard, yes but I managed to catch in a moment when you let it down," Jewel told her.

Dwayne soon heard the screaming coming from nearby. He looked to see Tera and Jewel.

"Great, I need to get away from this guy and fast," Dwayne said.

Big Guy brought an arm back and punched the Mudman in the face before heading towards Tera, who continued to struggle but the Mudman kept him back. Justin and Jennifer both changed the setting on their guns before aiming and firing it at the Mudman. The blasts hit him right in the back. It wasn't long before the figure began to dry out and the remains fell to the ground. Big Guy stared at it for a moment before heading towards Jewel and Tera.

"You won't win," Jewel said.

She reached in and grabbed the necklace around Tera's neck with her beak. Tera screamed out and tried to get away but found she couldn't free herself from Jewel's grasp. The eagle broke the chain and subsquently let go of the pterodactyl. She started to fly towards Hapar when Big Guy fired at her. The missile hit her, causing her to drop the necklace. It fell to the ground and Jewel growled for she knew she had no chance to retrieve it.

"You will pay for that," she snarled at him.

"Sorry, I don't have money on me. Will you accept an I.O.U?" wondered the robot.

She growled as she watched the necklace fall to the ground. She flew down to try and find it but she didn't see it anywhere. She growled as she flew towards Hapar.

"We've lost the necklace," Jewel said.

"Then let us depart. We'll come back for it later," Hapar replied.

Slate and Big Guy watched them leave. Dwayne turned the robot around to talk to Justin and Jennifer but they were nowhere to be found.

"Where could they gone so quickly?" wondered Slate.

Inside the robot, Dwayne noticed the flicker of one of the screens and the general's irate face appeared before him.

"Lieutenant Hunter, head back to the Dark Horse. We have a few things to discuss about tonight's fiasco," Thorton told him.

"I can't General. I know where they're going and Tera needs to be helped. I saw how she reacted when that necklace of hers was taken and I know why she needs it," Dwayne replied.

"Lieutenant, are you disobeying me?" Thorton demanded of him.

"Listen, they helped me when I was in trouble with my broken leg a few months ago. The least I can do is to see if I can help them," Dwayne explained.

Thorton raised an eyebrow before nodding his head.

"Fine, but if they aren't there, I want you to come back immediately," the general warned him.

The lieutenant nodded before leading the Big Guy away from the scene.

00000

Big Guy landed in a clearing near the cave. He slowly moved forward, not wanting to miss Tera if she happened to be nearby. He thought about how he was going to make himself known.

"Maybe I should get out and go on foot but if she flies away, I won't have a chance to follow her. But if I go in the Big Guy, they'll wonder how the he knew where they were," he said to himself.

He finally decided to go out on foot. Dwayne walked up to the cave and he heard crying coming from inside. He looked to see Tera sitting near the entrance to the cave. Dwayne moved forward, stepping on a branch in the process and accidentally snapping it. A face turned in his direction in complete horror.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!" Tera protested.

"I'm here to help," Dwayne replied.

"Unless I have my necklace, I can't change back! I won't go back!" she cried out.

She covered her face with her wings. Dwayne could see the wounds on both her arm and leg from the attack by Jewel. He wondered if he should leave after all but little did he know, that decision would soon be made for him.

"What are you doing here?" came an angry voice from behind them.

Dwayne turned to see Justin and Jennifer standing just outside the cave, arms crossed and very angry.

"I - uh - heard that Tera was in trouble and I came here to help," Dwayne replied.

"Nothing you do can help her right now. Now get back in that mechanical monster of yours and leave immediately!" Jennifer told him.

Dwayne was shocked when he heard the female cat say those words and it was obvious on his face. He was horrified when she soon confirmed what they knew.

"Yes, we know Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter. We know that you are the pilot of the Big Guy," Justin confirmed for him.

TBC...