Jack was now driving up to yet another gas station since his car was low on fuel again. As they all got out, Kitty noticed Dudley was awake.

"You okay?", she asked him, "You're usually asleep all day."

Dudley thought about telling her about what he saw, but he figured that she would probably have a logical explanation like she always did.

"Sure. Just eager to get a jump on the day."

Kitty looked a little unsure.

"Really?"

"Kitty, why do you favor Jack since now he's working with us?", Dudley asked her.

"Jack and I have known each other since our first days on TUFF's forces", Kitty told him, "I knew right then and there he would always have my back. He always had a way of helping me see that my situation wasn't all bad and we would pull through."

Jack overheard that comment, but decided that Kitty and Dudley needed some time to talk things out. Especially since Dudley made her go through so much. He just went inside the gas station to gather supplies since Dudley ate most of the food( again) while Kitty refilled the car while talking things out with Dudley.

"You were that sure?", Dudley asked Kitty.

"Yes. I was hurt really bad when he left for his new assignment without telling me."

Dudley was now starting to see some pattern here. Wasn't this the same as when Kitty and him split up?Kitty saw this and looked assuring.

"I saw it hurt you, but the rules were what they were."

Dudley felt a little bad about that, but didn't show it.

"You were just doing your job. And I should have taken mine more seriously, but you're the only one who's ever put up with me for so long", Dudley told her with his eyes starting to get moist with tears, "I didn't want to lose you and instead I made the biggest mistake I could ever make."

Dudley now had tears rolling down his face and Kitty could tell these were from his heart not his head(like in Sob Story) so she hugged him and let him cry it all out even though her suit was getting wet. Soon Jack came back after Kitty put the gas nozzle back into its slot and noticed Dudley still crying.

"Is he okay?"

"Jack he's fine. He's just having a moment."

Jack could tell that it was important so he put the supplies in the trunk and after Dudley finally calmed down enough to get back in the car, Kitty sat in the back with him this time. Jack started the car up and they were off once more. As the wind was blowing in her hair, Kitty did some thinking.

"Can ULTRA really help our cause?", she thought to herself, "Or is this just a rumor? Well, we'll find out soon enough."

Jack turned his radio on and tuned into a radio station which was playing "On Man's Road" from The Last Unicorn( I don't claim anything all rights go to America) and Kitty found herself singing along. As the landscape continued to pass by, Dudley started feeling uneasy.

"Are we there yet?", he asked.

"We get there when we get there", Jack assured him.

"Which is when?"

"Soon."

"When's soon?"

Jack figured he shouldn't answer that. Then the radio blurred and started to bleep.

"We interrupt this broadcast for this special news report. Wolf Spitzer reporting on the scene."

Dudley, Kitty and Jack instantly paid attention.

"This should be good" Dudley thought aloud.

"Shh", Kitty said quietly as the feed continued.

"Thanks Bob", Wolf's voice came, "As you can see, this infernal army is sweeping across the nation. The president is issuing a state of emergency, but the United Nations' forces just aren't moving fast enough. Whether on land, in the air or floating on water, this epidemic is just moving too fast and with little to no sign of slowing down."

Wolf's voice was followed by several screams of pedestrians, a chorus of roars, clangs and explosions as Dudley started to look worried.

"This just in, we have discovered some new activity in the army. The cities they have taken over are being rebuilt into some kind of super fortresses as if preparing for world conquest. And with TUFF out of commission, who can save us from this infernal army and the diabolical menace that leads it?"

With that, Wolf's broadcast went static. Now Jack was really starting to look worried.

"This is not just bad, it's a Pandora's box kind of bad."

That only made Dudley feel bad all over again. Kitty put her hand on his shoulder.

"We all do things we regret, but we have to learn to forgive or everything we were will be nothing."

Kitty's comment helped Dudley feel a little better, but not much. It did stop him from crying again.

Monster 01 was so winded it almost made him pass out. Just as he was catching his breath, who should show up? Zero, that's who. A simple image of course, but still. When Zero saw 01 breathing heavily, he looked concerned.

"Is something wrong?"

01 managed to catch some air before even starting to talk.

"It's just...taking …..more energy than I...anticipated", he wheezed, " to project... into his mind."

Zero raised an eyebrow.

"A little more than you have maybe?"

01 looked enraged.

"Well let's see you use infernal power inside a mortal mind while being bound without getting worn out."

Zero could tell 01 ment it because he didn't change his expression.

"I must say that the images you projected are pretty impressive. For an aberration. Just know this, Dudley might catch on and when he discovers my contract's loophole, you're existence will be no more."

01's face twisted into a menacing smile.

"The day Dudley discovers that loophole will be the day Hades turns into a garden of Heaven."

Zero raised his other eyebrow.

"Then you'll have no trouble to continue with your task?"

01 stood up.

"As soon as I get my strength back, Dudley will experience images he never dreamed he'd witness. And my domination will be permanently secure."

That seemed convincing enough( for now).

"Don't disappoint me.", Zero warned before he snapped his fingers and vanished.

Now was this Zero? No. Back inside his chamber in the infernal tower Zero made, Galaril was chuckling to himself.

"I can't believe I pulled that off.", he giggled to himself, "01 sure looked winded and when I get Dudley to see the loophole, he'll break out of Zero's control which means less competition on my part."

Galaril had remembered that Zero was reserving his right hand position for Dudley when Dudley had finally submitted his humanity and soul to evil. Galaril knew that Zero( being a lord of lies) only put a glyph of servitude on Dudley and simply used pain and whispers to drive Dudley into doing his dirty work.

"Zero thought he was so clever.", Galaril thought quietly due to himself getting the idea Zero might be eavesdropping, "Well, we'll see who's clever and who's going to be second rate when this is through."

After being sure that Zero wasn't doing any recruit checking, Galaril took a breath, did a quiet evil laugh, and got started preparing his next move.

"Not a bad Zero illusion if I do say so myself.", Galaril chuckled inside his head.

Outside and at Zero's door, Byron and Glacia were standing guard. Oh, the dignity they had to endure. Luckily Zero didn't suspect that they were disturbing his sleep earlier, but they were still not off the hook yet. Zero was inside gazing at the inferno he was creating, and all they did was follow orders( like everyone else under his tyrannical rule). But their wait wasn't going unnoticed.

"03, 04!", Zero yelled from behind the doors, "I need you!"

Byron and Glacia rushed in, but paused before Zero and keeled.

"You called master?", they asked in unification.

Zero stepped away from his power stone and walked over til he was standing only a few inches away from where the weasels were kneeling.

"I have a hunch that the gift will be where it needs to go. If it fails, I want you two to let me know about it."

Zero took out a GPS device out of his trench coat and handed it to the weasels who took them respectively. Zero then waved his hand and the doors magically opened then he rushed by with the weasels following. They passed by many rooms and torture chambers where the agonizing sounds filled the air with the lingering stench of rot and death. Soon they were on the roof. Byron clicked the GPS device and it started beeping.

"Target acquired.", it said in a way only a machine could say.

Byron put the device in his trench coat and Glacia( because Zero gave her one in case Byron's broke) did the same with hers. Zero stood at the edge with one of the Gemini twins on either side.

"Find the target, observe, but don't engage or be seen", he instructed.

As the Gemini twins nodded, Zero took hold of each one by the back of their coats(Byron in his right hand and Glacia his left).

"Don't fail me", Zero sneered, "FLY!"

With that, he hurled the weasels into the air and as they plummeted down, their trench coats shifted into ghostly bat wings and last anyone saw of them, they were flying off into the distance.

As Jack kept driving, Kitty still was in the back with Dudley. Even though she told him it was gonna be okay, he still felt something was missing.

"Hey Jack?", Dudley asked.

"Yeah?", Jack answered.

"If ULTRA is a division of TUFF, why didn't they help out when we needed them?"

Jack looked unsure.

"ULTRA works in it's own way. Maybe they didn't want to get involved just yet. But we'll get our answers soon enough."

Just then, Jack's car's radar started beeping really loudly.

"Oh boy.", Jack said noticing the radar and seeing a red dot coming in from the bottom, "We got company."

Kitty quickly unfastened her seat belt and jumped into the front seat and examined the radar.

"It's closing in fast. At about 40 mph."

The dot got closer and closer to the center and as Jack's car got into open terrain, the three agents looked over their shoulders to see..the Tuffmobile? It looked like it, only the headlights were red, and there was no driver.

"The Tuffmobile is CHASING us?!", Dudley screamed out of a dither.

The Tuffmobile instantly armed itself from it's lasers to it's missile launchers. Jack pressed a few buttons on his dashboard and his car prepared for combat. After about several round of firing projectiles and other spy stuff back and forth, the Tuffmobile moved faster and parked in front of them which caused them to stop.

"What's it doing?", Kitty asked Jack quietly.

"It's either very smart or very dumb.", Dudley said narrowing his eyes into a Clint Eastwood like look.

The Tuffmobile then started to shift and form until a huge battle robot was in front of them armed and ready to rumble.

"Did the Tuffmobile just turn into a robot?", Kitty asked in awe.

The Tuffmobile robot revved up.

"And now it's going to kill us.", Jack said as he hit the gas.

The robot charged forward, but Jack managed to elude it's new hands and crushing feet until the were on the road again with the robot speeding after them. Kitty unfastened her seat belt and Dudley did the same. Jack pressed another button on his dashboard and two bazooka like devices came out which Kitty and Dudley took fast. It wasn't easy trying to aim with Jack driving.

"Those are state of the art machine busters", Jack called over his shoulder, "Aim carefully and hold on."

The robot wasn't giving up without a fight. It rearmed it's arsenal and the fight was on( again). Kitty took her time with her shots, but Dudley was already firing his like there was no tomorrow( hey he does this sometimes). Jack then turned the music player on and battle music( you decide which one as long as it's good) started to play.

"Gotta set the mood.", he thought to himself.

The Tuffmobile and the dynamic TUFF duo gave their all in this fire power throw down. From lasers to missiles from oil slicks to grenades, the sparks really flew. Finally, Jack took out a device from his glove compartment and hurled it over his shoulder, past Dudley and Kitty and it exploded the moment it hit the robot which faltered a moment giving Dudley and Kitty the moment they needed to allow Kitty to use her last machine buster shot to hit the engine of the robot and after a massive bang, the robot burst into a huge pile of scrap and junk parts. Only then did Jack stop driving and the threesome got out to investigate the rubble.

"What caused our car to go all crazy like that?", Dudley asked Kitty.

Kitty merely shook her head. She didn't know herself. Then when they looked toward Jack, it looked like he found something so they headed over.

"Look at this.", he told them as he pointed to a glowing machine the size of Dudley's hand which was whirring slowly and sparking a little.

"What is it?", Kitty asked him.

"An auto pilot /reprogramming mechanism.", Jack informed, "Someone must have tampered with the Tuffmobile and sent it after us. Zero no doubt."

They were not about to stay and find out so the threesome went back to Jack's car which extracted a vacuum like hose which took in the parts of the Tuffmobile excluding the device they found which Jack kept in a secure briefcase.

"Why would Zero send this thing after us?", Dudley asked allowed.

"He's pure evil.", Jack answered as though Dudley knew already, "There's no telling what he's capable of. You saw how he took Petropolis didn't you?"

"Oh, don't remind me.", Dudley groaned, "By the way, how much further?"

"We're almost there, should be a few minutes", Jack told him, "Hopefully before anymore of those infernal machines like the one we fought show up."

After driving for about a couple minutes, a huge mountain came into view as the were driving over a hill, but they only got so far before the car shorted out and all electrical powered devices went dead.

"What happened?", Kitty asked expecting to see another attacker.

Jack just smiled.

"TUFF agents, we're there."