Now normally, a blast like that would be only a minor shock wave, but at the distance that explosion was, Dudley and Jeremiah were pretty frazzled upon hitting the hard earth after exiting the infernal portal. But that wasn't the worst part. When they arrived, they saw Dorian, Iris, Kitty and Jack in some kind of frozen state( as if they were petrified). Then they got their answer on who was responsible when they saw Damien with his bat wings out and floating above their heads.

"Looks like those androids I left did their job.", Damien said very smug, "By the way, you two look like something my slaves drag in."

Dudley just stood in awe and while catching his breath. Jeremiah just looked concerned.

"So you wanted us to get through Hades, just to set a trap?"

Damien looked complimented.

"And it took you this long to figure it out? Let's see how you two fair against the real me."

Damien attacked the moment he finished. Although he was at full strength, Dudley and Jeremiah were very beat. Now the tables had turned. Damien had all Dudley's spy training and more. Soon there came a time when Damien had Dudley and Jeremiah cornered and just as he conjured a massive fireball, Dudley held his hand forward.

"Rasindo Aveira!"

In that moment, a glowing white tiger formed and intercepted Damien's fireball. There was an explosion, and Damien was knocked out of the air. It hurt him, but not enough to take him out. The tiger stayed a bit, than dispersed. Damien stood up and man did he look mad.

"Nice hit. I felt that."

And just when Dudley did a good move, Damien was about to finish both Jeremiah and Dudley off. Just kidding. Just when Damien came close, Jeremiah pulled out a portal device and opened a portal right in front of him. Damien tried to turn to the side, but too late. The portal sucked Damien in, but Damien just looked snide.

"Too late, he knows."

Jeremiah looked alarmed.

"He knows?! You mean Zero?"

Damien just cackled wickedly as he fell through the portal and vanished as the portal closed. Rest assured, Jack, Kitty, Iris and Dorian regained mobility shortly after Dudley and Jeremiah caught their breath.

"Everyone okay?", Jeremiah asked.

"Just dandy.", Dorian informed.

"I'm good.", Iris stated.

"Same here.", Kitty added.

"And here.", Jack said wearily.

"Well, looks like our rescue mission was successful.", Dudley said trying to sound positive.

"Not quite", Jeremiah informed, "Zero knows we got Jack out so we need to get moving. And fast."

Nobody wanted to argue on that issue. After reactivating the Tuffmobile and Ultracycle(Jeremiah's motorcycle), Dorian shifted his assistants into a jet pack and they were off again. Jeremiah then pressed his communicator and got a link.

"Control here."

"This is Agent Jackal reporting.", Jeremiah transmitted, "Jack Rabbit has been successfully liberated. We're returning to base now."

"Copy that. Dark Wolf will here of this news immediately. Be careful though, you got some enemy troops heading your way."

"Will do, Agent Jackal out.", Jeremiah concluded as he hung up.

Back at HQ, Jeremiah, Dudley, and Jack were sent to the medical ward for treatment. Hey, after all that fighting with Damien and the androids that intercepted them on the route back, they needed to be looked over. Peg was certainly ment to be a nurse. She knew a fatal and critical injury when she saw one. Kitty and Iris stayed beside their canine partners just in case Peg needed a few helping hands. Dorian however went back to his lab to finish that gamma radiation based cold fusion project he was working on. Soon after getting patched up, Dudley and Jeremiah were lying in hospital beds and they turned so they could see each other.

"That was...quite a fight huh?", Jeremiah asked.

"Yeah", Dudley agreed, "but Mom is a good nurse."

"You're not kidding.", Jeremiah stated, "When did she get to be so good?"

"Do you know how many times I got hurt when Mom and Dad split up?", Dudley asked.

"No need to tell", Jeremiah confirmed.

Although Dudley and Jeremiah had looked into each others hearts that time ago, there were still some cracks only they could fill. Soon Peg came by with a tray of fancy dinner.

"Hi Dudley, how are you and your friend doing?"

"We're fine thank you Mrs. Puppy.", Jeremiah informed her, "How's Jack?"

"Well, we managed to keep him from bleeding any further, although we had to use Doc's special medical spray but by the look of things he's going to be okay."

Jeremiah sighed in relief as Peg adjusted the beds so Dudley and Jeremiah were in a sitting up position and put the attachment trays on. She had brought a freshly grilled steak with mashed potatoes and orange juice for Dudley and Jeremiah. The meals were pretty good to Jeremiah, but Dudley took a little longer to take it in. The steak to him tasted like a toilet seat and the potatoes tasted like paste, but Peg was firm about Dudley getting better so Dudley forced himself to swallow it.

"You need the proteins so you recover faster.", she informed.

At least the juice tasted right. After they finished, Peg set the bed settings to default and took the trays back.

"Now get some rest boys. You're gonna need it."

Peg left to tend to other agents who got injured and were recovering while Kitty and Iris helped Dudley and Jeremiah with getting into a lying down position again. It wasn't easy due to the injuries they had, but they got there( eventually). Now Dudley and Jeremiah had to get some shut eye. There was no knowing what Zero would throw at them.

Damien could not believe how strong Dudley and Jeremiah were. He had orchestrated the whole thing himself. From the patrols to the trap at the end of the portal, and it still wasn't enough. This was occurring down in Hades, and everyone was feeling Damien's wrath.

"These...two!", he thundered causing the dark clouded skies to flash violently and lightning to hit the already charred earth, "I'll get even! Just you two wait, and when I do, you're both dead!"

This was pretty violent and loud enough that the wretched quaked in fear of being hit by the bolts. Zero had materialized in the room and only then did Damien subside.

"Sir, Jack he-"

"I know", Zero stated cutting Damien off, "he got away. I must say Damien, you got a pretty good score on that interception. But don't take this lightly. Dudley and Jeremiah are not to be under estimated. Understood?"

Damien nodded.

"Understood sir."

Zero then walked over to his throne and seated himself upon it's seat. After that, he waved his hand and Galaril, burned and nearly dead appeared before him.

"Damien, take Galaril to the field and get some training in", Zero instructed, "I have something...else to attend to."

Damien hovered over, grabbed Galaril by the mane and started to drag him outside. Galaril looked Zero straight in the eye.

"Your scheme is starting to falter Zero."

"Falter?", Zero asked, "I think not."

Damien continued to drag Galaril away and Zero turned to the Gemini twins who as usual were beside him.

"Send word to each continent that they are now on a search party."

"For what sir?", the weasels asked eager to know.

Zero smiled devilishly.

"It's for me to know and them to find out."

If it were anyone else, they would have objected, but the Gemini knew better than to do that. As they were getting ready to leave, Zero stopped them.

"One more thing. Tell our fellow members that they had better have a good scheme on their hands to impress me, OR ELSE!"

After the Gemini twins recovered from the yell, they bowed nobly.

"As you wish my lord.", they answered in unification.

As the Gemini twins took flight, they started a conversation of their own.

"Zero was smart in making that-", Byron started.

"Look alike.", Glacia finished, "His forces are already having the nations-"

"On edge.", Byron put in, "Although the enemy is formidable, Zero always considers-"

"Possible outcomes.", Glacia added, "And he knows better than to have others now his-"

"Plans.", Byron stated, "Because if that other someone gets caught, then Zero's ideals will be-"

"Unraveled.", Glacia concluded.

The Gemini had flown a long way over the infernal landscaped on their ghostly wings and through the clouds as well as among the aerial patrols that were doing their usual rounds. Finally, the reached their destination. Floating down to a ruined temple like structure, they placed their communicators on the pedestal and the area illuminated to reveal several images of fellow criminal overlords that Zero had sway over.

"Zero sends word.", the Gemini stated.

As the day began to end, Dudley and Jeremiah had recovered enough to be put into wheelchairs and walked around the halls.

"Man, it feels nice to be out of bed.", Dudley said as Kitty wheeled him into the hall.

"I'm just happy you made it through.", Kitty informed him, "You have got to be the most crazy dog I ever met. But you did pull off that mission pretty well."

Dudley let out a light chuckle.

"You think it's easy sneaking around a bunch of guards and watch tower gazes?"

Kitty felt a little happy. Dudley had a way of saying things, but she had a feeling on what they ment.

"Hey, I never said this to you, but I kind of like you."

"Really?", Dudley asked, "You do?"

Kitty nodded.

"We've gone so far, and done so much. And I feel like we've always been together."

"Yeah", Dudley added, "two of a kind. That's what we are. By the way, I wonder how everyone back home is doing?"

Kitty looked worried.

"Their probably being tormented and quite possibly dying real slow. But if I know our fellow operatives and ULTRA, they don't go down that fast. After you recover, we'll get in and take that city back."

Dudley felt better. He really wanted his home back in Petropolis again as well as have Zero behind bars where he belonged. Dudley had a funny feeling that his recovery was near it's end because he had feeling in his injured parts, although they hurt slightly when he moved them. Behind them, Jeremiah and Iris were in the middle of having a conversation too.

"Dudley really has changed.", Iris told Jeremiah.

"Yeah, just needed the teacher who could show him what he needed to learn.", Jeremiah informed.

"So you think he's ready for the good stuff?", Iris asked.

"When he recovers, I'll think about it.", Jeremiah told her, "There's still so much for him to learn before he wields such powerful equipment."

Iris understood that detail. Dudley was good in conjuring that white tiger to fight Damien, but that was luck. The factor won't always work in his favor, and sooner or later he would have to learn it. Both dogs had been wheeled past Dorian's lab when Dorian came out with a special generator the size of a DVD player in his hand.

"Got it. The first gamma radiation based cold fusion. I'm on my way to the testing room to see if I juiced this little gizmo just right."

"Don't you do that in your lab?", Dudley asked him.

"Not at all", Dorian informed, " just invent things in my lab. I test them elsewhere. You think I just test things in a place where all my components are all willy nilly?"

"Dorian, are you sure you got it quite right?", Jeremiah asked, "You tend to let other projects get your attention."

"Jeremiah, I have gone through hoops of fire, jumped electric fences, and paddled across hydrofluoric acid", Dorian said, "I know a good device when I make one. I hope your recovery is going well, cause in my personal opinion, you and Dudley are almost done."

"And Jack? Will he be walking soon too?", Dudley asked.

"We'll let you know when the time comes", Dorian informed, "You'll just have to wait. Now please pardon me as I take this invention to the testing room."

Dorian headed next door and closed the door behind him. Dudley and Jeremiah were wheeled back into the medical ward for the curfew. Other agents were doing their night assignments and Dark Wolf was hard at work informing all of ULTRA's fellow footholds about the latest criminal activity occurring. Finally, Dudley and Jeremiah were back in bed and tucked in by you guessed it Peg.

"Sweet dreams, baby.", Peg said very affectionately.

Dudley wanted to inform her that he was a big boy, but after that time when Snaptrap took her away, he had learned that she just smothered him cause she loved him.

"Thanks Mom", he told her as he put a fake smile on, "I'm sure I will."

The following day, Dudley and Jeremiah were up on their feet and fully recovered. Hey, ULTRA had the latest medical recovery technology around. Jack was going to be up a little later( his injuries were a little more severe), but rest assured he'll be fine. Now Dudley and Jeremiah were having a meeting with Dark Wolf. Apparently, Zero had got a hold of extra help and was putting extra strain on the war.

"Here is what we do.", Dark Wolf instructed, "We get Petropolis back under our sway, after that, we'll have a better chance of fighting this war."

"So you need us to get in, and take it down?", Dudley asked.

"That would be the case.", Jeremiah stated.

"From you're successful mission down in Hades", Dark Wolf said, "you two will form two teams and get Petropolis back from OMEGA's clutches. Think you're up for it?"

"I was born ready.", Jeremiah stated.

"Me as well.", Dudley informed.

"Alright, get your teams together and move out.", Dark Wolf stated, "I'll deploy code 849-theta."

"What's that?", Dudley asked.

"You'll find out", Jeremiah told him, "Let's get the team together."

Dudley and Jeremiah had left the room and already picked their team members. Iris, Kitty, Dorian, and now Jack( he had recovered now) were waiting for them in the hanger and ready to go. After getting the gear and on their respective vehicles, they were off for the next big mission. Meanwhile, Dark Wolf got all ULTRA HQ on the radio.

"Attention, all personal. We are deploying code 849-theta. Repeat, code 849-theta. This is not a drill."

All over the base, operatives were getting outfitted with the latest protective gear, weaponry, and reporting to their stations. Dark Wolf took his place at the summit and several operatives working monitors started pressing keys followed by the whole base starting to shift.

"Operatives", Dark Wolf called out, "prepare for battle. Today, the world witnesses the return of ULTRA!"