Everyone and their grandma came to the ceremony that afternoon. The citizens gathered around the stage that the Chief was currently standing on as he set everything up, namely four colored stands. Cody had only just arrived; he parked his bike and set up the anti-theft mechanism.
"Cody! Come here!" He turned to the crowd and saw his best friend, Francine Elma "Frankie" Greene. She motioned him over and disappeared back into the crowd. Cody walked in after her. He pushed his way into the crowd looking for her. When he had found his way to the front, there was Frankie in her girly outfit, her father and the island's chief scientist, Dr. Greene with his lab coat and polka-dotted tie. On the ground next to them, their two Dobermans, Edison and Aristotle, were sitting with happy faces and lolling tongues.
"Hey Doc. Frankie." Cody greeted them.
"Isn't this exciting?" Frankie held a pamphlet in her hands that she squeezed in excitement. "The tech is like nothing I've ever seen!" The Chief interrupted Frankie's exhilaration when he cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Thank you for coming, folks." Cody's father began.
"I'm not talking about the rescue stuff! I'm talking about this!" She showed him the pamphlet that he could now see was from the Griffin Rock Museum. "The new exhibit at the museum! Cyber wire infused with Pleistocene DNA!"
Cody returned his attention back to his Dad.
"Our town has always been on the cutting edge of new technology. Now, thanks to our friends in Washington, I give you latest in Emergency response, the Rescue Mutts!
Four doors opened in the floor of the stage and four dogs jogged out and hopped up onto the pedestals and sat down. A Liver-spotted Dalmatian with a collar, vest and boots that were a matching red, a Bernese Mountain dog with matching equipment in pale green, a black-and-silver German Shepherd in dark blue and a Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever in orange. Four vehicles rose behind the dogs; a fire truck, a bulldozer, a police car, and a helicopter.
The audience clapped at the sight of the canines. The Chief turned to the dogs. "Rescue Mutts! Transform!" He commanded.
The Dalmatian stood on his stand and the crowd watched as dual water cannons rose on a articulated robot arm that rose from the back of the dogs vest. His collar stretched like water to cover his neck and reached to his head, giving him a visor made of a glass-looking substance for protecting his eyes and his boots lengthened upwards to give more protection to the legs.
The blade of a bulldozer erupted from the Berner's vest, rising high into the air by the lift cylinders attached to his sides. It lowered to the front of the dog, highlighting the fact that it was proportionate to the size of the creature using it instead of an actual bulldozer. His collar and boots did the same thing as the Dalmatian and an arm reached from the back of his vest and placed a hard hat on his head.
Small panels in the German Shepherds collar slid open to reveal red and blue police lights that matched the ones that popped out of the shoulders of his vest. His collar gave him a visor that looked like something off of a SWAT officer's helmet and a flashlight was revealed on the front of his vest.
The Duck-Toller vest let lose jet-like wings from the shoulders and the collar stretched forwards and morphed into aviator goggles for the dog. Next to the wings, a small towline was attached on a rig.
"These dogs will streamline our resources. Now, one human paired with one dog will be able to do the work of an entire police force" Chief clarified, placing a hand on the back of German shepherd, who straightened up.
"Fire Department" Kade stepped forwards with a cocky smile. The Dalmatian gave him an irritated look from the corner of its eye.
"Emergency response" Dani stepped forwards with her helmet under her arm and placed a hand on the Duck Toller's shoulder, but she didn't notice the dog shiver underneath her touch.
"And Engineering Core." Graham came up looking at his Data-Pad while the Bernese mountain dog moved his eyes to see everything in front of him.
"These dogs have been bred to be stronger, faster, smarter and braver than the average dog." The family came together on the stage and the dogs hopped of their podiums and walked forwards to stand up front. "So you can sleep at night, knowing that Griffin Rock is protected by the best technology and humanity has to offer."
The crowd cheered and applauded.
The Burns hooked color-coded leashes to the dog's collars and led them down the steps of the stage and into the crowd. Kade immediately walked over to Haley and attempted to ask her out on a date, leaving the spotted dog to look at him with exasperation. But she simply denied his invitation and instead got on her knees and gently stroked the dog's shoulder. Dani was speaking with Milo while her dog sat down patiently at her feet. Chief was allowing a few children to come up and look at the shepherd's equipment and Graham was still looking at his data-pad. His dog didn't really seem to mind though.
The large, furry dog was looking and sniffing at everything he could reach, two of which happened to be the Greene's Dobermans. Aristotle and Edison approached him eagerly and their owners didn't try to stop them considering Doc Greene was conversing with the Chief and Frankie was still reading her pamphlet. The Dobermans sniffed and snorted in the rescue dog's fur.
Boulder sniffed at them to.
"Hi-" He attempted to say, before Heatwave gave him a quick nip on his floppy, black ear with his short, front teeth. It didn't hurt, but Boulder flinched and, realizing his mistake, opted for simply touching noses.
However, Cody noticed.
"Hey, that dog just said something." He tried to whisper to Frankie, but she was too absorbed in the pamphlet. So Cody walked forwards and got on one knee in between the Greene's dogs and his families new pets.
He turned his attention to the Dalmatian and Berner. The spotted canine regarded him silently with no interest in his eyes, but the Bernese Mountain Dog approached him with his tail wagging.
"Um…Hello?" He asked the dogs, trying to get them to talk back. There was no response except for the mountain dog moving forwards to nuzzle his hands. Just like an ordinary dog.
"Hey, kid!" Cody turned around and saw Huxley Prescott, the current island news reporter, holding a camera. "Can you move? I want a picture of the Burns family of heroes."
Cody politely backed out of the way of the camera and Huxley snapped his photos. The family ignored the reporter, still socializing with the public. Cody sighed sadly; once again, he was looked over.
Chief Burns' comm suddenly beeped. "This is Chief Burns. Go ahead."
A voice buzzed and Chief reverted to his commanding voice. "Fire at the Natural History Museum!"
The Dalmatian barked and yanked at its tether. It pulled its red leash out of Kade's hand, scampered up the stage stairs and jumped into the fire truck's open door. But the other dogs stayed exactly where they were.
"Hey, I didn't tell it to do that." The Chief quickly came up with an explanation.
"They're excited, son. Didn't I tell you that this'll be their first official mission?" Chief explained.
Everyone ordered their dogs into the vehicles. Chase and Chief hopped into the police car, Graham walked towards the bulldozer, but hit his head, as he wasn't looking where he was going and knocked his hard hat off. Boulder picked up the hat in his mouth and leaped into the vehicle, while Graham followed, rubbing his head. Kade had to shove his dog over to get in, it was obvious that the Dalmatian did not get along with him; and Dani literally had to drag her dog into the copter.
Everyone made their way to the museum as fast as they could, but Dani and Blades were having some…issues. Issues meaning that the orange dog would not sit still, he kept shaking and moving around in the cockpit, whimpering like a puppy.
"Come on! Be still, I need to see!" She shouted as the dog jumped up into her lap. But instead, Blades choose to hunker down and cling to her. To show effort at keeping his secret and doing what he was told, he looked at her, tilted his head in a questioning manner and whined.
"Sit. Down." Dani yelled while tugging harshly on the dogs collar in an attempt to get him on the floor.
"We're being outrun by a bulldozer."
He did get down and he did sit, but he was right in front of her legs and he put his head on her knees and covered his eyes with his paws, making it more difficult for her to move.
Dani groaned. These dogs would need some serious re-training.
Kade and Chief got there first. Before Kade could get out, the spotted dog leaped over his lap and onto the ground, shaking himself.
"Clear the museum of civilians!" Chief ordered. The german shepherd ran to the front of the building and dropped small, round, metal discs from his vest. These disks flashed and suddenly, there were orange, holographic traffic cones lighting up a path for the people exiting the museum. The dog barked loudly to draw their attention to the route.
Once the citizens were evacuated, the german shepherd charged into the burning building. He backed out of the building dragging two mummies, holding their bandages in his sharp teeth.
Chief approached him and got on one knee. "These humans did not respond to me." Chase whispered to him.
Chief chuckled and patted the shepherd on the back. "I don't think we have to worry too much about that, partner."
Boulder and Graham were having their own problems.
"We need to move the plants to block the fire." Graham order.
"Bu-, uh" The Bernese Mountain dog stuttered, "uh- woof. Ah-woof." He tried to salvage the situation. He didn't want to destroy the peaceful and balanced design of the square. Leaving Graham confused as to why he dog wouldn't move.
Dani's helicopter touched down on the ground, having finally arrived.
The moment the door opened, Blades hurled himself out of the aerial vehicle and plopped himself onto the ground on his belly. He sighed in relief at having made it through the flight.
Kade laughed at the display and at his sister. "Nice of you to show up, Dani." He teased as she jumped out of the vehicle.
"Would've been here sooner if my dog wasn't such a big baby!" She scoffed.
"Next time, I'm walking."
The dog whined softly and followed his irritated handler. Nobody noticed Cody in the bushes, crouching with a suspicious look on his face as he watched the dog.
Once the fire had been extinguished, everyone went inside to examine the cause. Graham looked closely at a mechanical saber-tooth tiger that had a small rip in its fur.
"Looks like a short started the fire. He explained to the family while the dogs sat patiently around them. "But this should hold it. Cyber wire is too much for these old circuits."
Cody stealthily stuck his head into through the door, and when no one was looking, he sprinted through the door and hid behind a pillar.
As everyone gather around the prehistoric feline, a jolt of electricity could be heard from a nearby exhibit, a mammoth that held its trunk high in the air. They looked shocked at the display as the wires in the pachyderm's neck came a loose.
No longer fixed, the mammoth's head swung and its trunk was heading directly towards Graham! The Chief jumped in to protect Graham and the both braced themselves for the blow…
Until Heatwave launched himself into them, his spotted body carrying enough momentum to push the two humans and himself out of the path of the massive attraction, that instead planted itself into the wall.
Heatwave stood shakily on his legs and approached the Chief. The dog whined. Chief patted the Dalmatian on his head. "Good Boy" He whispered, before he helped Graham to his feet.
"I didn't tell him to do that." Kade stuttered, shocked at almost losing his brother.
"I wouldn't complain." Dani replied, also shaken.
"Your dog was still in rescue mode," Chief stood up, motioning to the Dalmatian who was surrounded by his fellow Rescue Mutts, all eager to make sure he was okay. "You told him to save lives, so he did."
"Your welcome, Graham." Kade's arrogant attitude returned as he crossed his arms. He didn't notice Heatwave growl at his statement.
Everyone left; Heatwave leaned on Boulder while his legs recovered from his daring leap. Cody, who was still hidden, watched as the Dalmatian's mouth moved slightly, almost as if he was whispering something to the dog supporting him.
The young human's train of thought was interrupted as water from the sprinklers dripped onto him. He decided to leave after his family, but he didn't notice the sparks of electricity, followed by saber-tooth tiger's eyes glowing.