Chapter Two: There's No Need To Fear
Capitol City. Another one-of-a-kind city that housed inhabitants from all walks of life. However, unlike its tourist attraction distant cousin, Capitol City hosted more of the older generation and was a resident's dream with next to no taxes and an economy that was simply booming. For years, inflation costs haven't hit Capitol City as hard as the rest of the country, which is why it was consistently ranked among the best retiree locations in the United States. But like its distant cousin, the city was a pretty big hotspot for crime, ranging from the smallest theft to the largest capital felony. Capitol City also had its fame or infamy, depending on which side of the spectrum one was on, for its own recurring villains, ranging from a man who can summon electricity at will to a bank-robbing vampire with an army of bats at his side to alien invaders of all sorts from different planets to a gang lead by a wolf gangster, among many others.
And like its distant cousin, it was also famous or infamous, depending once again on which side of the spectrum one was on, for its own resident….law-abiding citizen. He was the very humble and lovable dog who was always quick to help out anyone and everyone in need. And his specialty was the art of cleaning and shining shoes, something that he has done since he was but a child. This dog was none other than Shoeshine Boy, but everyone in Capitol City simply called him Shoeshine.
And just like he was well known for, Shoeshine was hard at work polishing up a middle-aged resident's sneakers. It did not take him long, but he pretty much got both sneakers restored to the point where they looked just about brand new.
"Thank you, Shoeshine." The middle-aged man said. "I owe you dearly for your hard work." The man added as he began to go into his wallet to pull out money.
"No payment necessary, sir." Shoeshine replied. "I only do this small deed for the community. I have already been paid handsomely by just being alive today."
"Well, that is rather nice of you, Shoeshine." The man said. "But I insist. Please take this monetary payment as a token." The man then added, handing Shoeshine a crisp $20 bill.
"Well, thank you so much, sir." Shoeshine said as he hesitantly took the money. "I will ensure that this goes to a proper place."
The middle-aged man simply nodded and fistbumped Shoeshine before they went their separate ways, Shoeshine picking up his supplies and starting to walk down the street. As residents were walking the streets of Capitol City, they all waved and spoke to Shoeshine, the lovable and humble dog giving hugs and taking pictures with some of the people on the streets. But as he walked along, there was a very loud scream from far away, which Shoeshine could easily hear due to a certain reason.
"Help! Help! Help!" A lady screamed several times.
When Shoeshine heard the screams and calls for help, he briefly looked around for two things: One, for any people around the area; and two, a phone booth. When he spotted a nearby phone booth and was sure no other people were around, he made a mad dash into the phone booth. Shoeshine then began the transformation into what Capitol City was also famous or infamous for, depending on which side of the spectrum one was on: Its own resident savior.
The phone booth that Shoeshine ran into exploded, and out of the dust came another dog. He was blessed with superpowers and always appeared when Capitol City was in a serious crisis. He wore a red suit with a blue cape, adorned with a big white U on the front of his suit. This was Shoeshine's biggest secret – that he was also Underdog, Capitol City's Champion of Champions.
"There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!" Underdog said in his usual rhyming pattern of speaking, shouting out his well-known catchphrase.
The sounds and screeches of "Help!" continued to ring through Underdog's ears, the canine superhero trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. He put a hand to one of his ears, trying to make out the female voice.
"That voice I hear is a familiar cry." Underdog said before he pointed in the direction that the voice seemingly came from. "It is that way I must fly."
Underdog flew in the direction that he interpreted the screams were coming from. As Underdog continued his flight, the heart of Capitol City began to come into view, and the screeches of "Help!" became much louder. Figuring he must be close, Underdog used his X-Ray vision and began scanning the buildings nearby.
After a few moments of scanning, he spotted a female dog inside of a warehouse in what looked to be a gas chamber. This female dog had platinum blonde hair and wore a white dress shirt with a red jacket. But instead of the black skirt and high heels she used to favor, she wore some black jeans and some black sneakers. Not only was she was Capitol City's ace reporter but one of the most world-renowned reporters with dozens of awards to her name, and she was sort of a sex symbol. She was the one and only Polly Purebred, who used to have the de facto prefix "Sweet" next to her name before she recently underwent a massive personality change.
Underdog saw Polly in the chamber and lowered his brows in anger. He also saw another man inside of the warehouse guarding Polly. He was the henchman to one of Capitol City's most renowned criminals, who went by the name of Cad Lackey.
"Oh, you let me the fuck out of here right this fucking second, Cad!" Polly screamed and demanded. "Underdog WILL come and kick your fucking ass again!"
"Oh, just shut the fuck up already, Polly Purebitch." Cad replied in a bit of an annoyed tone.
"That is Polly in quite the pickle." Underdog said. "I must save her on the triple."
Underdog made a beeline towards the warehouse where Polly was being held captive. But before he could get there, he was hit by a laser beam from pretty much out of nowhere, Underdog making a crash landing onto the ground below. When he recovered, he looked at the source of the laser, and what he saw was a robot. And this robot was being controlled by a very short man who went from one of the most world-renowned scientists to a career criminal. He was dubbed "The Wickedest Man In The World" by all of Capitol City. He was none other than the boss of Cad Lackey and Underdog's archrival, Simon Bar Sinister, a man with aspirations of dictating the world.
Simon looked down from his robot at Underdog, getting out a long evil laugh.
"Ha ha ha, Underdog, got your bitch ass now!" Simon said.
"Simon, you asshole, set Polly free. I doubt you wanna feel the wrath of me." Underdog demanded.
"Like both of those counts are gonna happen this time, Underdog." Simon replied. "I was actually looking forward to your arrival. I'm gonna defeat you with your poor damsel in distress watching, as well as all of Capitol City and the world!
"Let her go, Simon, one last chance. You know what the fuck happens every time we dance." Underdog once again demanded.
"Sure, Underdog, but this dance will belong to ME this time!" Simon declared. "And don't you even think for one second of going to save her before fighting me. Because if you do, it's only one quick buzz to Cad, he'll push the button on the gas chamber, and your precious Polly Purebitch will be history!" Simon then added with an evil laugh.
"Then I'll hand you your ass like I always do. Time to beat the shit out of you!" Underdog said as he made a beeline towards Simon's robot.
"Simon says….now you die!" Simon got out as he saw Underdog quickly flying towards him, Simon only cocking an ear-to-ear evil smile.
A sound came from inside of Simon's robot as Underdog swiftly went on the attack. But before Underdog could even land a blow, one of Simon's robot's hands snatched Underdog out of thin air. The other robot hand then began to punch Underdog several times before it slammed Underdog into the ground with brute force. Simon out of a long evil laugh as Underdog began to recover.
"Get that shit the fuck outta here!" Simon said, one of the robot's feet moving backwards then swinging towards Underdog, punting him several feet away, Underdog taking another very hard spill.
As Underdog got up, he was extremely woozy and had to take a moment or two to regain his equilibrium. Afterwards, he looked up at what he was up against.
"If at first you don't succeed, try again until you fulfill your deed." Underdog said as he flew right back into action.
Simon went back to wreaking havoc on the city, many frightened citizens trying to stay in a safe area with Capitol City Police helping guide them as Underdog did battle. Polly could only look on from the TV screen as Cad Lackey cheered his boss on.
"Hell yeah, go boss!" Cad cheered.
Underdog eventually got back to where Simon's robot was and very quickly went back on the attack. Instead of taking it head on, however, Underdog used one of his projectile attacks called the Hot Tamale. Underdog blew on his hands and clapped them together before rubbing them at a high rate of speed, creating a small fireball in his hands a few short seconds later. Underdog then threw the fireball towards the robot, the fireball expanding very quickly in size.
However, an alarm went off inside Simon's robot again, warning him about the quickly approaching fireball. Simon, sensing it quickly, and even with a little showboating to boot, caught the fireball with his robot without even making eye contact with it. Then Simon did a little more showing off by tossing the huge fireball right back to Underdog behind the robot's back like a basketball player would with a basketball.
"Right back atcha, fucker!" Simon shouted out as Underdog's own projectile hurtled back towards him.
The fireball was coming back to Underdog so fast that Underdog had no time to react and take any evasive action. The huge fireball hit him, sending him hurtling several feet away once again. Underdog took yet another hard spill on the ground, Simon letting out another huge evil laugh.
"Underdog, you piece of shit! Give it up!" Simon requested with more evil laughs thrown in.
Underdog lay on the ground for a moment before he slowly got back up, looking out towards the robot as Simon went right back on the attack on the city.
"Simon's new robot is a challenge for me, but I must stop him and set Polly free!" Underdog declared as he flew back into action without hesitation. "His evil plan will cease to be. I will kick his ass, that's a guarantee!"
Underdog flew right back to where Simon's robot was continuing its havoc upon the city. Underdog started his next attack in which he flew up several thousand feet into the sky directly above the robot. Underdog then dove straight down at a very high rate of speed towards the top of Simon's robot in an attempt to surprise it a bit. However, once again, the alarms went off inside Simon's robot, letting him know that Underdog was approaching very quickly.
Simon looked up and saw Underdog dive bombing on him and timed it so that he could catch Underdog above him. But when Simon reached up and clapped his hands above him to catch him, Underdog, as if he had a sixth sense, made a split second change of direction, Simon missing his target.
"Shit!" Simon exclaimed in anger.
And with zero wasted motion, Underdog immediately went for the front of the robot once more at his blazing fast speed. The alarm went off inside of the robot once again, and Simon had to react almost immediately. Underdog got as close as he ever gotten to landing a blow, but Simon still managed to stop him in his tracks. All Simon did was extend his robot hand out to Underdog before grabbing and squeezing him, pulling Underdog towards him.
"You may as well give it up now, Underdog!" Simon angrily demanded. "My Predictabot is able to scout your every fucking move, no matter what it is! And you WILL NOT stop me this time!"
Simon delivered a few more punches to Underdog before winding up like a baseball pitcher would.
"Simon says….FUCK OFF!" Simon got out before he threw Underdog away several feet once again, Underdog taking an incredibly hard spill. Simon then resumed his chaos upon the city as Cad Lackey and Polly Purebred looked on from the TV screen.
"Oh, no!" Polly said sadly. "Come on, Underdog! Get your ass up, damnit!"
"Looks like the boss is handing your man his fucking ass, Purebitch." Cad said with a laugh, Polly responding by giving him a middle finger.
It took several minutes for Underdog to recover, but he managed to crack a small grin on his face despite being pretty banged up from the battle.
"So Simon's robot does have a weak spot. Now I can put an end to his evil plot." Underdog said.
Despite being extremely beat up, Underdog flew right back into battle against Simon's Predictabot. Underdog made a very brief stop just behind the robot before very quickly flying towards it. Like always, the alarm went off to alert Simon of Underdog's approach. Simon did a little more showing off before he turned the bot around to deliver the blow to Underdog. However, Underdog managed to avoid the blow by quickly changing direction just like he did when he tried attacking from the top. And again with zero wasted motion, Underdog tried to attack it from the front. The alarm went off yet again, but this time, Underdog finally managed to land a blow just a hair before Simon could react to the alert. The force of Underdog's blow sent Simon and his robot flying several feet away, Cad and Polly looking on from the monitor in disgust and joy, respectively.
"Oh, shit…." Cad said in a worried tone.
"Fuck yeah!" Polly shouted triumphantly. "Take that, asshole! Go, Underdog, go!"
Simon managed to get his robot back on its feet and pounded the front of it in anger and frustration.
"Okay, now that was fucking luck, Underdog!" Simon angrily shouted out. "I'll bet my ass you ain't doing that shit again!"
"Luck is for losers just like you. Betting your ass is something you shouldn't do!" Underdog replied as he went back on the attack.
Simon's robot of course set off the alarm of Underdog's approach again, which this time Underdog was coming straight head on. Simon reacted by trying to catch Underdog in mid-flight, but as he did before, Underdog quickly changed direction and made a beeline for one of the robot's legs. The alarm went off to alert Simon about that once again, but Simon had no time to react. Underdog used all of his power to crash right through the robot's leg, thus leaving the robot unable to really stand. But to make fully certain, Underdog crashed through the robot's other leg, Simon's robot falling down on its back.
Underdog, however, didn't stop there. He kept flying and stayed on the attack. But the robot still alerted Simon of Underdog's quick approaches, and Simon still had use of the robot's arms. Underdog came in on the attack and Simon tried to use his robot's arms to do a double fist attack. However, Underdog literally stopped on a dime with the robot's arms just barely out of reach. Underdog, wasting no time whatsoever, grabbed both of the arms and used his super strength to rip them both out from their very foundations. Cad Lackey could only look on in horror as Underdog was winning the battle, Polly jumping up and down ecstatically and cheering.
With no way to fully attack, Simon used one last ditch attempt and pulled out his laser gun that he earlier zapped Underdog with. However, this laser was extremely easy for Underdog to dodge, and even the alarm that went off in Simon's amputated robot was useless. Underdog disconnected that laser gun from its foundation as well and swiftly destroyed it. Now fully out of options, all Simon could do was exit out of the robot's emergency escape hatch and make a run for it, but of course he was not going to get away from Underdog. However, a more urgent matter quickly popped into Underdog's head, and without saying a word, Underdog made a beeline to the warehouse where Polly was being held captive. The image of Polly popped into Simon's head just a moment or two later as well.
"SHIT!" Simon exclaimed before he pulled out his walkie talkie. "CAD! POISON THAT FUCKING BITCH!" He then shouted.
However, within a fraction of a second of that order, Underdog arrived on the scene, and before Cad could even make a stride to push the button to activate the gas chamber, Underdog swiftly went on the attack. Underdog delivered Cad several punches and kicks, giving Simon's main henchman just yet another brutal beating that he always took when Underdog saved the day. Polly jumped with glee as she watched her hero dispatch of Cad.
After Cad was down for the count courtesy of another Underdog beatdown, Underdog ripped open the gas chamber, setting Polly free. Polly immediately ran into Underdog's arms, crying tears of joy as she gave him a very tight hug.
"Oh, Underdog!" Polly then said. "Thank you for saving me from those bastards!"
"One bastard is Cad, this fucking prick. But that bastard Simon's ass still needs kicked!" Underdog then declared.
"Go get that mother fucker, Underdog!" Polly said.
Underdog put Polly on his back and flew her to a far more safe area before he flew off to search for Simon. And because Underdog was gifted with superpowers and knew every nook and cranny of Capitol City, it didn't take him too long to find Simon. Underdog simply used his scan vision to get Simon's whereabouts. As soon as he got a visual, Underdog flew directly to where he was, Simon still on his feet making a mad dash. Underdog simply landed right in front of him and crossed his arms, Simon quickly changing direction and running for it some more, though Underdog sped right in front of him again.
"Just where the fuck do you think you're going? Escape from me, you must be joking!" Underdog said with a smirk on his face.
Simon began to beg and plead with Underdog to not hurt him again, but Underdog was not having any of it. Underdog went on the attack, giving Simon an even worse beatdown than he gave Cad. Several variations of punches and kicks were delivered to Simon from Underdog, Simon sustaining many of the injuries that he was used to getting from his years of beatings from Underdog: Heavy swelling, deep cuts and lacerations, missing teeth, black eyes, among many other painful injuries. Underdog, as usual, took extra care not to deliver any potential fatal damage because Underdog simply was not that type of hero.
After the swift beating, Capitol City's Special Tasks Force arrived on the scene and took Simon into custody, Cad already visible inside of the truck as they took him into custody shortly after Underdog dispatched of him.
When Simon and Cad were taken away, Underdog began his restoration to the city, seemingly magically restoring it to its stage before Simon wreaked havoc upon it. Underdog then gave a thumbs up signal to anyone who could see it, all of Capitol City coming out of hiding and cheering for their resident superhero.
Polly came running up to her hero again and jumped into his arms, hugging Underdog hard with Underdog returning the gesture. But Underdog decided to take it a step further. Underdog looked right into Polly's eyes and held the sides of her face, initiating a deep and passionate kiss on Polly's lips with all of Capitol City looking on and applauding. After the small show of affection, Underdog flew away and gave the thumbs up signal again to everyone below, Polly hyperventilating and falling on the ground with a lovestruck, mesmerized look on her face.
"I've been….I've been…." Polly got out in between breaths. "I'VE BEEN KISSED BY UNDERDOG!" Polly then screamed out with what little breath she had, an ear-to-ear smile on her face.
"I don't believe it." A random man said as he threw up his arms in disbelief even though he saw the interaction.
"Damn, you lucky woman." A random woman then said as people helped Polly to her feet, who was screaming ecstatically, hysterically, and seemingly being out of control, those people also waving their hands in front of her to fan her, trying to get her to calm down.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
Music Credits
Song Artist/Source: Streets of Rage 2
Song Title/Source: Mr. X Battle
Year Song Released: 1992
When Played: During the battle with Simon Bar Sinister.