"By the way, what´s your name, boy?" Asked Dudley while they were already walking for an hour. They had already reached the spot where Kitty was captured and now were heading towards an old building where the lizard brought the ones they had captured.

The dog with the green eyes had told him that this once was a sanatorium but now it was a place that was breeding the madness it once tried to cure. And pain, the little dog shivered as he told Dudley about that.

"My… my name is Nick…" meant the dog slowly.
"Well, sorry that I behaved like that Nick." Meant Dudley. "I´m just a bit stressed out lately… this whole situation is really… odd."

Nick said nothing, he just kept on walking and, honestly speaking, Dudley was pretty glad he didn´t have to have a conversation with him. He was too preoccupied transforming the fear that he maybe wouldn´t see Kitty again into wild anger which he would unleash against the first enemy they saw.

Luckily was the first option for a catharsis just around the corner. Not literally of course. It was actually behind a big rock.
"Look what we have here…" said a big, scaly big green lizard that wore a breast armor made from a grey metal Dudley couldn´t identify.

But what the lizard also wore, besides the chest plate, was a pair of pants which he had obviously made himself from differently colored furs. It was disgusting, this lizard wore a genocide around his hips and wasn´t even ashamed of that. Seeing that was like fuel for Dudley´s anger but he made it to hold back. It was never a good idea to angrily attack an completely unknown enemy.

"Two little dogsssss." He giggled. "What are you two doing out here?"
"We are searching someone." Dudley meant coldly.
"Oh really?" Said the lizard mischievously grinning and bent down to Dudley. "And who isssss that sssssomeone?"
"A tall tanned cat, have you seen her?" The question had almost sounded naïve if Dudley´s voice wasn´t deadly cold.
"Yes, I have ssssseen her. But what´sssss more important, why ssssshould I tell you?"

"Because your death will be much quicker then." Whispered Dudley.
"HA!" The lizard laughed excessively loud. "You´re a funny little bassssstard. It´ll be so much fun killing you."

"So you want it like that?" Dudley and placed one of his feet a little more behind him to have a more stable stand.
"I do!" Laughed the lizard and his fist sprang towards Dudley. The dog dodged without any effort. With both hands he grabbed the lizards arm and used the momentum and the lizard´s unstable stand to throw him over his head without effort.

"Issss that all?" mocked Dudley and got in his fighting stance again.
"You little…" The lizards got back on his feet and wanted to jump at Dudley, he wanted to bury with him with his body but Dudley just stepped to the side. The lizards belly-flopped the ground.

"Pathetic." Meant Dudley shaking his head as the lizard stood up aching.
"You ssssson of a…" he wanted to say but this time Dudley took his chance. He rushed close to the lizard and hit, while jumping upwards, the lizards chin with his elbow. Dazed his enemy stumbled a few steps back. Dudley realized two things after the hit.

First thing was that his enemy was unbelievably slowly. It was like he fought against a child. Maybe the close combat training he was doing for ages now was a reason for that. But even if they´re moves were slow and clumsy there was something that gave them an advantage.

Their skin, and probably the rest of their body, was rock hard. That was the second thing he realized. Summarized it was like fighting a child in an armor. He wouldn´t make too much damage with his fists. He needed a new tactic. While the enemy still was occupied with the aftermaths of his hit he got his glove out and put it on.

"Last chance." Dudley said as he turned his palm towards the lizard. "Tell me where she is!"
"Fuck yo…" A blue pulse hit the lizard and sent him screaming to the ground before he could finish his swears.

Dudley walked to the jittering green creature on the ground and put his boot on his throat. "Tell me where she is." He meant now calm and coldly.
"I will never…AHHH!" Still in midsentence Dudley had laid his hand on the lizards and activated it.
"Tell me!"

"Ssssstop it… ssssstop it!" screamed the lizard in immense pains.
"Where is she?!" Dudley yelled back and didn´t even think about lifting his hand up.
"Ssssshe isssss with a patrol, they bring her to the HQ." He cried.

"Was that so hard?" Dudley asked and still didn´t move his head. Instead his glove started glowing intensely while the lizard screamed even louder. And all of the sudden, both stopped.
"You should have told me right away." Dudley growled and let the lizards face go which was nothing more than a black crust by now.

"Wh…How…" he heard Nick stammer behind him. The boy seemed not to understand what just happened. He just stood there with his mouth agape and looked at Dudley.
"No time for that, you heard it." Dudley meant. "Where is this HQ?"

Nick just pointed into the distance where three gigantic towers, which tops bend and meet in the center of the triangular they formed, lined the horizon.
"Okay, let´s go… stay close and behind me." Dudley meant sternly and then started running. Not to fast of course, he wanted that the boy keep up with him.

But the younger dog kept his pace perfectly. Dudley was pleasantly surprised as he realized that he could ran faster and the boy would still be right behind him. A normal human already had to stop and catch air and even the trained once maybe had problems with this speed.

"Hey, stop!" Nick called after a while and grabbed Dudley´s arm what made him stop.
"What?" he replied stressedly.
"Look over there!" From the little hill they stood on Nick pointed down into the valley where a group of six lizards escorted something that looked like a big coffin.

"Good work, boy." Dudley meant and crouched down. Nick did the same and looked worriedly at the coffin.
"Is that a…"

"A casket?" Dudley tooked the words out of his mouth and calmed him by shaking his head. "If she was dead they wouldn´t transport her in a casket. I mean haven´t you seen this other lizards pants? No, that´s something else. Also, the other one indicated that she´s still alive."
"Okay…" Nick nodded nervously. "Do you have a plan?"

"Sure." The dog stood up and changed something on his glove so it glowed red now. But not also his hand, soon his whole body glowed in a weak red. "Just stay here and wait until it´s done."
With these words, and without waiting for an answer from Nick, Dudley went towards the convoy.
The lizards noticed him as he was halfway down the hill and laughed about the alone and seemingly unarmed dog.

"Do they really asssssk themselves why we don´t take thisssss rebellion ssssseriously?" Laughed one of them, a bigger lizard with black scales. "One dog to free the cat whore? That´sssss ridiculousssss!"
This lizard was obviously the leader of the group because all other lizards joined his laughter.

"I give you a fair chance." Dudley meant as he built himself up an arm´s length from the leader away. "Give me the container and all of you are allowed to see the next morning."
This time the leading lizard didn´t have to start laughing to let the others know that this was funny.

"Yeah sssssure, little doggie." Roared the leader. First because of laughter but soon the reason was just pain. Dudley had laid his hand on the lizard´s chest and from there the scales started to turn brown. Dudley didn´t took his hand of the leader´s until every inch of his body had changed its color from black to brown.

The screams had stopped meanwhile, like the laughter of the other lizards. The dog clenched his fist and hit the now brown lizard. Like a gypsum statue the lizard broke into thousand pieces.
"I warned you." Dudley growled and turned to the other convoy member who had already taken aim at him. He simply smiled and started walking slowly towards them.

Even after they opened fire he didn´t start to run. He strode towards them and his smile grew as he saw the fear in their eyes as they realized that their weapons didn´t hurt him. In the moment Dudley was not a meter away of them he jumped at the first and hit his face with his glowing glove.

The lizard was literally punched into the ground. Dudley dodged a slightly elaborated punch from the lizard next to him and performed a fast uppercut that tossed the lizard 20 meters into the air. With a combination of three punches he broke all bones in the torso of the next one.

Dudley was about to grab the next one but this lizard could escape him and he and the other one that was left sought their refuge in flight. But Dudley was relentless, there was nothing in him that would grant these lizards their flight.

Coldly he pointed his palm at the first then at the second and shot both down with a red beam. Both of them fall lifelessly to the ground. Their death gave Dudley a weird feeling of accomplishment which he had tried to suppress under other circumstances. Dudley hated it to kill, but this time it was different.

The glowing around him wore off and he repeated "I warned you." and shrugged.
"Wow! That was unbelievable!" Nick called as he ran down the hill.
"Piece of cake." Said Dudley and turned to the coffin and took a deep breath. "Now, let´s see."

Dudley took his first heavy steps towards the coffin. He hoped that what he would find in there was Kitty. And he hoped that she was alive.
"Please… be no weirdo…" whispered Nick who walked behind him. The boy´s steps seemed to be as heavy as his.

Dudley wondered why Nick was so concerned. Of course Kitty was part of his community but he could hear the boy sob in fear as they were close to the coffin and that was kind of a very emotional reaction.

Dudley reached the bulky black coffin that looked it was made from black flawless marble. He first just laid his hands on it to touch the surface.
The material felt cold and more like a metal. "Okay…" He said and tried to fight the tremble in his noise. "How do we open this?"

"You…You don´t know?" Nick said negatively surprised.
"Not really…" Dudley shrugged helplessly. "Have you never opened such a thingy?"
"No… Keswick knows it and once told it to me but…" The boy sighed.

"It´s hard to memorize all what he says, huh?" Dudley smiled softly. He knew how bad Keswick was when it came to explaining things.
"He speaks so fast." Growled Nick annoyed with himself. His eyes teared up as he hit his fists on the coffin. "I should have listened!"

"Calm down, there are definitely some fragments in your head. Just repeat what you still know."
"Just…" Nick wiped the tears out of his face. "Just something about temperature and crystal structures."

"Hmm… okay, now try to remember, when he told you that, or when he opened the coffins, what did he hold in his hand?" Dudley laid his hand fatherlike on the boys shoulder.
"I…I think a welding torch…" Nick meant pensively.

Dudley smiled widely as he heard that and tousled through the young dog´s hair. "Good work!"
Obviously, readable in his expression, Nick hated getting his hair messed up, but then again, he was too anxious what Dudley would do next to interrupt him by complaining about that.

Dudley meanwhile had laid his hand on the coffin after adjusting something on the glove. It took a bit but after a while the black surface of the coffin started turning grey and began to emit heat.
"What are you doing?" Nick asked who also felt the heat.

Dudley stayed silent until a loud mystical sound came from the coffin that reminded of a gigantic gong that was hit in the distance. With this sound the coffin´s lid suddenly opened a little.
"That´s how these things should sound." Giggled Dudley remembering the first time he had encountered a stasis pod.

With a tight grip he threw the lid away and looked into the pod finding his fiancée lying in there.
"Kitty!" Dudley meant and felt her pulse. His fingers felt the twitch of her veins. "She´s alive!" He exclaimed loudly. "Jackpot!" He started laughing in relief and hugged her. "I can´t believe it, you are alive!"

"Wh…What?" A voice replied weakly. Dudley broke the hug and looked into these green emeralds which he had to miss for so long. She was awake and like Dudley though it, she couldn´t believe what she saw.

"Hello, Kitty." Smiled Dudley and laughed a little. "It´s been a while."
Kitty first just stared at him silently. Then she closed her eyes and opened them again like she tried to wake up from a dream. "But you… but I… am I dead?" Kitty sat up still with her eyes fixating him disbelievingly.

"That´s a long story." Meant Dudley smiling and sat down next to her. "I can tell it to you but not here."
"This must be a trick… or I´m in heaven." Kitty said and touched Dudley´s cheek and then winced back like she just touched a hot surface. "No… you´re real… but Dudley…"

"As I said, not here." He meant smiling widely. He stood up and helped her up. "Do you feel well enough to walk?"
"Actually I…" Kitty suddenly held one hand over her mouth and ran behind the stasis pod where she uttered the worst retching sounds Dudley had heard since the morning after the victory party on his ship 300 years ago.

"Oh… well, take your time honey…" Smiled Dudley knowing that she just suffered one of many possible stasis aftermaths.
"Uhm… hey." Nick said who had just stood there for a while watching the scene. "Why do you call my mom honey?"

"Your mom?!" Dudley suddenly said and his stomach felt like Kitty must have felt in this moment.
"Yes, who are you anyway?" The young dog crossed his arms skeptically.
"I…I…I…" Stammered Dudley and eyed Nick closely for the first time. How could he not see that? He almost looked exactly like him just with green eyes.

"Dudley…" gagged Kitty a last time and then spoke heavy panting. "I think I also have to tell you something. And also…" She schlepped herself back to the bottom part of the pod and sat next to Dudley. "Also to you Nick."

"Aha…" Nick´s tone of voice became more hostile like he knew that his mom would come up with something big.
"Nick… this man is Dudley Puppy and…"
"NO!" Nick yelled and pointed at Dudley. "HE IS NOT…"

"He is." Kitty meant strictly.
"I am…I am what?" Dudley asked shivering. He knew what would come but he needed to hear it from them.

"This asshole is not my father!" Nick meant angrily and as he said that a weird wave of happiness and fear rushed his mind.
"Don´t you dare calling him like that again!" Kitty snapped with a hoarse voice.
"How is that even possible?! He should be dead, or was that a lie?!"

"I…" Kitty looked puzzled at Dudley. "I have no clue, ask him…"
"Okay, dad, why are you still alive?" Dudley tried to remember when he last heard so much poison in the word dad.

"I… that´s a long story…" the dog mumbled while trying to sort his thoughts.
"I have time, tell me." Nick hissed and his tone reminded Dudley of Kitty when she was mad.
"Oh hell no, none of you has time." A voice behind Nick meant loudly.

Kitty and Nick turned to the source and their eyes grew widely. But while the two of them just looked terrified towards the tall figure that looked angrily at them Dudley just looked to it for a second and then back and Nick while saying "Hello Isaac."

"Oh do not just sit there and say 'Hello Isaac'." Isaac was so angry that he switched back to his mother tongue. "What were you thinking coming here?!"
"I said I was searching for Kitty." Dudley responded in Isaac´s language and looked at his fiancée that still looked horrified at Isaac.

The scientist sighed seeing her partly in relief that he found him partly in understatement of his situation. "At least Powers still do not know about this." He had switched back to Dudley´s native tongue with his 'I am an alien' accent.

"Oh my god, it can speak!" gasped Kitty.
"I could say the same about you." Isaac replied drily and then looked at Nick who had took a fighting stance. But the scientist just rolled his eyes. "Really?" he asked bored. He walked to the boy who trembled the closer he came.

"You are cute little…" Isaac had to look closer and then grinned. "Catdog… though you look more like a dog." He patted Nick´s head and walked pasted him. "Congrats Dudley, it is a boy."
"How do you know… wait I´m sorry that I asked." Dudley sighed.

"There would be no time to tell you anyway." Isaac said. "I hope you all can walk because we all should be home before Powers and the flea, this Dumbrovski, are done discussing tactics."
"Then let´s go…" Dudley meant and helped Kitty up.
"You are back…" mumbled Kitty still in disbelieve. "You are really back…"