As the plane headed towards Hawaii, the radar spikes got more frequent and more potent.
"We're getting close.", Theo informed.
Hunter tensed and the others were also though Colleen seemed the most worried.
"Any idea on how to stop the core?", Exile asked a bit nervous.
Colleen could've answered, but Theo beat her to it.
"That core requires specific control rods that are held within a specific science lab which will probably be somewhere on the big part of the island peninsula."
Colleen frowned.
"I was going to suggest that.", she grumbled.
Shag trembled as he babbled some more, but Hunter gave his teammate an assuring smile.
"Don't worry Shag, we're going to be okay."
Colleen then was more at attention.
"Hunter, we need a plan.", she informed, "If that core goes off, it'll destroy the island."
Hunter looked on edge.
"First we have to find it."
Theo then noticed a blip on his radar.
"Found it, but there's a problem."
"What is it?", Hunter asked.
Theo turned and placed what he had on his radar as some red dots were converging on them.
"Company!"
That was when two large fighter jets came out of the clouds and opened fire. Hunter maneuvered as he started barking orders.
"Blitz, get our weapon systems up."
"Copy that.", Theo informed as he did so, "Colleen, I'll need you to assist."
"Anything to take my aggression on.", she answered.
Shag and Exile buckled down with Muzzle as an air fight got underway. As the planes moved past the windshield, Theo saw that they were a couple of large mutated cats and frowned.
"Guess Parvo decided to crash out arrival."
Hunter frowned.
"Great, just what we need.", he muttered.
Theo suddenly looked focused.
"Incoming!"
Then Parlov's jets opened fire as Hunter kept up avoiding them. Colleen and Theo kept an eye as they manned the cannons.
"Colleen, bogey at six o' clock left!"
Colleen turned and fired just in time to hit the target's wing and send it down.
"Thanks.", she commented Hunter pleasantly.
Theo gripped his controls as the other came around.
"Blitz, fire!", Hunter ordered.
Theo's eyes narrowed.
"No, not yet."
Colleen turned looking angry. She then got up and came over to Theo.
"Listen Mr. Fluffypants, when Hunty gives you an-"
Theo then fired and then the other jet went down.
"There. Shot down.", he said calmly.
Colleen was about to turn around when Theo spun around fast and gave her a snide smile.
"Satisfied, Ms. Plushbutt?"
Colleen's glare darkened.
"What did you call me?!", she snapped.
Hunter saw the tension and clearly Exile and Shag did too cause they barely had time to hold Colleen back before she tried to clobber Theo.
"Guys, I know you're both tense, but this isn't the time to be fighting."
Colleen huffed as she went back to her seat after Shag released her. It wasn't like Blitz to call her a name back and she didn't like it one little bit.
/
Parlov got onto the island with Groomer and looking firm.
"Tell me that we have time."
Before Groomer could talk, another voice broke the silence.
"Oh, I'm so glad you came here."
Parlov froze. Whoever it was certainly sounded bad and his nerves were tensed.
"Who's there?"
"I am."
Then a small projectile came out and exploded into a cloud of smoke covering the area. Parlov coughed and gagged before he felt a funny feeling come over him.
"What's… going on?"
"Think of it as a version of your true self."
Parlov's vision cleared up and when he saw his reflection, he appeared more catlike than usual.
"What… what is this?", he asked before he coughed up a hairball.
He then turned to Groomer who looked just as catlike as he was. That only made him more aggravated.
"Show yourself!", he called out.
"Over here."
Parlov and Groomer turned to see something moving in the shadows. It looked like a Rover, but something was off about it.
"Who are you?", Parlov asked, "And why are me and Groomer like this?"
"Think of it as me preparing the pieces for their places."
Groomer frowned.
"Nobody mutates Parlov and me.", she hissed.
They couldn't see it, but they felt like the shadow was smiling.
"Then it pleases me to be the first."
Parlov was losing patience.
"State your business."
The shadow's eyes lit up giving off an unfriendly glow.
"Same as you, only I'm much better at it."
Groomer looked uneasy.
"You mean…"
"Precisely.", the shadow answered cooly, "I've already prepared a test for them and if it succeeds, then I'll move on to stage two. And you two will assist me in this endeavor."
Parlov sneered.
"I'm no mere soldier.", he said sharply, "I'm a general and-"
A blast went off near his feet which shut him up.
"Shall I take that as a no?", the shadow asked.
Groomer could see the situation and if this guy could do what he said he could, the Rovers wouldn't stand a chance.
"We're at your service sir.", she informed, "Just be sure that we're respected."
The shadow's smile illuminated for a moment.
"Deal."
Parlov frowned, but after that display, he was willing to play along for now. But who was this individual?
"Head to the far-right side of the island.", the shadow instructed, "Await further orders."
/
Blitz groaned as he placed a hand on his forehead. His vision was cloudy as he started rising from his position and as his view cleared up, he found he was in his hotel room and with a couple doctors near him.
"How did I get back here?", he asked drowsily.
"Someone called from the street and you were found unconscious.", one of the doctors answered giving a shy smile, "Luckily, there were no major injuries and it looked like you just passed out from exercising in the hot sun too long."
Blitz suddenly recalled Charae and looked curious.
"Was there… nobody around?", he asked.
The doctor shrugged.
"We saw nobody else."
The other doctor looked thoughtful.
"Well, there was this one girl who looked kind of like a grey hound rover that was heading off somewhere."
Blitz looked at attention, but quickly covered it up as the doctors were still in attendance.
"Um… thank you."
The first doctor gave a nod and he left with the other one. Blitz paused until he was certain that they were out of earshot and then went to his things.
"Good thing I remembered to pack my personal stuff.", he told himself.
Blitz went through his stuff until he took a laptop out. He booted it up and the moment it did, his fingers were flying across the keys as he started looking up who this "Charae" was.
"Hmm, nothing on a rover under that name.", he said to himself.
As he scrolled down a bit, a link caught his eye.
"Rover Project a go?", he thought as he clicked it.
A video pulled up and a rocking sound came alive.
"People of the world! For years, dogs have been forced to look up to man, but times are about to change. For the better. At long last, man will finally know their rightful place as they were ment to!"
Blitz saw images of dogs interacting with humans, dogs being forced to fight, and then rovers like him and his team rising like an angry mob. It was enough for him to drop his mouth open. But compared to the images before, the video ended with an army of rovers with a pair of glowing red eyes above it all.
"To all the rovers out there. Stand with us, and show what we are capable of!"
Blitz shut off the laptop and suddenly, he had a really bad feeling. He then punched into the Rover's radar and an image of the plane came up.
"I have to warn the team.", he said to himself as he shut his laptop down and hurrying out the door, "This is bad."
Soon he was outside and heading into the sunlight, he was feeling tense as his old demons reared their ugly heads. As much as he was willing to be a Rover, he had a few negative qualities. One of them was being fearful where Hunter wasn't. It was like he and Hunter were polar opposites of each other, but after what he saw, he had to put it behind him.
"Going somewhere?"
Blitz froze. That voice, and that tone sounded familiar as he turned to notice another Rover standing not far away. He looked like a Rover, but a scary metal mask covered the top half of his face which made him almost his nerve.
"I'm so glad you came here."
Blitz's eyes went wide as the rover reached up and removed the metal mask off his face to reveal his real one.
"It… it's you."
Whoever the rover was, he cackled like a demon before leaping into the air, refastening his mask and vanishing like a ghost.
/
Hunter dashed across the landscape with the others on his heels. His natural Rover superpower was superspeed and it helped at times. The others were in an all-terrain vehicle they often used in these times.
"We're close.", Theo informed, "The radioactivity is getting stronger."
Colleen frowned as she stepped on it. As they got to a turn around a bend, they parked as Theo got out a pair of binoculars as the team slowly crept to the top of a hill after going round the turn. He took a look and frowned.
"Uh-oh, we got issues."
Colleen swiped the binoculars and took a look.
"What? Something bad?", she asked.
She saw Parlov and Groomer and her face grew dark.
"Oh yeah, it's bad."
Theo took out a radar and it was beeping like crazy.
"The core is there alright.", he informed.
Hunter frowned.
"Okay, any ideas?", he asked.
Theo spoke up.
"Okay, I got something.", he informed, "Hunter, you take Shag and Exile so you can keep Parlov and those… goons busy. Colleen, you're with me and Muzzle."
Colleen frowned.
"No way.", she insisted, "I'm not taking that plan."
Theo raised an eyebrow.
"Anyone have a better idea?", he asked, "When the core is about to be activated?"
Hunter tensed. As much as he hated to admit it, Theo did have a point and the way he pointed out teams, he knew what strengths and how they could be beneficial.
"Okay Blitz.", Hunter sighed, "We'll do it your way."
"What?!", the other Rovers (excluding Theo and Muzzle) exclaimed.
That was when huge lights were on them and an alarm went off grabbing all of their attention.
"You know your roles, just keep them busy.", Theo in formed like a general addressing his troops, "Go!"
Theo hurried off with Colleen who was wheeling Muzzle behind while Hunter took off with Shag and Exile. As they hurried close, Parlov and Groomer's troops opened fire while Theo avoided with a smile.
"And now for some music to heighten the mood."
He pressed a button on his belt and blaring music filled the air. Parlov turned and Groomer lifted a panel where a button was. Parlov pressed it and a timer of twenty minutes started counting down.
"Double time!", Theo called out.
As the Rovers kept drawing closer, Theo remembered Blitz was on this island as well.
"Blitz, please don't come here.", he silently prayed.
Hunter sped across with Exile freezing what he can while Shag only provided cover. Clearly, they had their work cut out, but they were holding their own. Theo and Colleen were avoiding gunfire and exploding grenades though Colleen was looking annoyed.
"Why am I the one rolling Muzzle towards our destination?", she called out.
Theo ignored her as they got close and he looked her way.
"Okay, let him loose!"
Colleen looked confused, but she did as she instructed. Once Muzzle was out of retainment, he suddenly went feral with his jaws bared. Colleen knew that Muzzle was pretty wild and was often used only as a last resort, but somehow, this was making Parlov and Groomer's troops split. Parlov frowned.
"If you want something done right, you have to do it-"
He was cut off cause Theo flipped and used his hands to launch himself and collide with Parlov knocking the guy aside as Groomer took out some kind of hairdryer.
"Can't let you stop the timer now.", she stated.
Colleen wanted to get to her, but Muzzle got there first and chomped on her leg making her yelp and fire her hairdryer laser off course. Theo got to the core as it hit the five-minute mark. He then made a call.
"Hunter, you got the code to deactivate the core?"
Hunter picked up the other end.
"Sending now, but you have to hurry!", he informed, "We don't know how long we can hold out!"
Once Theo got it, he punched it in and after a bit, the core shook, let out a burst of steam and then shut down. As Theo took a breath, he noticed Muzzle on the ground looking wiped out and Parlov, Groomer, and all their goons gone. Colleen went to Muzzle's side and checked him out before calling Hunter.
"Hunty, Muzzle's down. How fast can you get over here?"