Dog on Duty (20 chapters (SO FAR)

[satuurnity]

GALLERY!

SUMMARY
(THIS STORY MAY BE TOO EXPLICIT FOR YOUNGER READERS)
(SO HERE IS A BLOOD WARNING)

This is an action story, based on secret
agents and yes, dogs. Please, if this is your type of thing,
I suggest that you read on. Yes, I know this is kind of the
'come read my story, it's amazing!' promoting yourself
thing- but trust me, if you want suspense, you got it.
Thankyou.

CHAPTERS

chapter eleven: With All My Heart: 1356 words
chapter twelve: Grenades & a Wild Goose Chase: 1338 words
chapter thirteen: Undercover: 1728 words
chapter fourteen: Where've You Been, Hawk: 1637 words
chapter fifteen: Back in Business: 1443 words
chapter sixteen: Angelic Betrayal: 1558 words
chapter seventeen: Blood Loss: 1859 words
chapter eighteen: Suspended: 1215 words
chapter nineteen: Malice : 1898 words
chapter twenty: Fighting Fire With Fire: 1550 words

M O R E C H A P T E R S S O O N

chapter one: Dog on Duty: 1276 words
chapter two: In the Danger Zone: 1252 words
chapter three: Words to Contend With: 1701 words
chapter four: Flightless Falcon: 971 words
chapter five: Smokey Situations: 1187 words
chapter six: Stupid Bleeping Bomb: 1806 words
chapter seven: FlashBack: 454 words
chapter eight: Dirty Little Trix: 580 words
chapter nine: Claustraphobic: 540 words
chapter ten: Hero of This Picture : 1376 words

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER ONE

Pain jolted through my body as I lay helplessly in the dirt. I could feel the pile of rocks on top of me, and I knew that she was there, looking down on me. I knew she wouldn't help me now; I mean, since when has the enemy ever helped? Scarlet droplets trickled from the wound on my rear leg - apart from my head and my lungs this was the only part of me I knew was still functioning. There was nothing else, just silence, and darkness...

Whoa, slow down there. You're probably wondering how I got into this mess. This horrible stinking mess. I am agent Hawk of the HOWLS secret service - and I'm a dog. An eighty-pound, three feet tall, black brute of a dog. I have two inch long canines, and piercing blue eyes. I am a dog - or, in Latin, the Canis Lupus - what did you expect? Anyway, back to the not so inviting topic of how I got into this mess. This horrible stinking mess.

First of all, let me clear things with you so you know where we each stand. At the period in time in which I currently reside, humans are dead. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but they are all dead. All of them. No, there are no survivors, and no hidden bases teaming with those who want to retake the earth that they once called theirs. It was never theirs, it never will be theirs, and they will never walk it again. They were the ones who destroyed it, so it's their own stupid fault if you ask me. Anyway, the humans are the ones who went extinct, so why am I rambling on about them? I guess we're heading back to the subject of the horrible stinking mess I got myself into. Sorry.

As I mentioned before, I am agent Hawk of the HOWLS secret service - an organization created to purge the world of evil (KAT, mostly) and make it a better place for everyone. Me, and three other agents had been sent out to retrieve the stolen ECOD (i'll explain later) and take out the villains who took it. Everything was fine, there was nothing out of the ordinary, and then Texas noticed the danger on the horizon. We weren't given a chance to move when it happened, and before I knew it I was buried in tons and tons of debris. Luckily my head was free, and my hind leg, but there was no way I was moving without help. My radio was dead, my friends were probably dead, and my spirit was dying. I know what you're thinking - I was right about the horrible stinking mess...

So I'm guessing that you would like to know how I ended up buried alive, and how the hell I'm going to regain feeling in the majority of my body, yes? Yes. Well, here's the story so far...

----

HQ was moving full speed, with every agent playing their part. There were the computer whizzes, the dogs sat at a PC twenty-four-seven who were busy hacking, tracing, tracking, and using remote controlled technology to explode things from far away places, the guards, who's job description is pretty much in the name - they watched the entrance, unblinking, only swapping shifts every twelve hours, ready for anything to walk in the door at any moment. The highest ranking of them all are the superiors, bossing the others (i.e, me) around for a living. Though, they were smart enough to know when to stop. And then there were the dogs in the middle. I was one of them. We did any job that needed to be done - we were field agents, mentors - filling in to train the apprentices when their actual mentors were ill - speech givers, overseers and much more. I'm more of a field agent myself, mind you. But out of all those ranks, not one, was as high up the ladder as Kelly, agent 101.

Kelly was as a shadowy figure, keeping to her office for the majority of her management. She only ever let in the superior dogs, and I for my whole life have never set eyes on the mysterious dog. I've heard that she's a large, white Spitz dog, with amber brown eyes and a bushy tail. Apparently, her canines are so sharp they hurt even before they've pierced your skin. But they're not as sharp as my fangs, obviously. I bet nothing is as sharp as my fangs.

I was sat in front of my computer, my behind parked firmly on the concrete, trying to track down Pistachio, agent 503, who had gone missing hours ago. He was out on a field mission, in an attempt to disarm a bomb that KAT - you'll have to skip forward quite a bit if you need an explanation of her - had planted in a center-court of AshStone Road, a bustling market town. We'd had news that the bomb was near to a bridge that crossed the river Andard, a popular spot for tourists that liked to play in the slow-flowing water. It was extremely quiet now, as it was one o'clock in the morning, but in about six more hours when people started to arrive, they would get there and then find themselves scattered about the floor. And now Pistachio's radio-collar had gone on the blink, he was nowhere to be seen. It was my job to find him before it was too late.

My eyes began to wander from the computer screen, and traveled around HQ. The room I occupied currently was the Tracking Circle, a large room that reached to the ceiling in a spherical form, with concrete beams holding it up. There were four doors, each in between two beams, that led off to many different branches of HQ. The computers were in rows in the middle of the room, every one facing north. The door straight ahead of me lead to the main hall, which consisted of the entrance - an archway which led to a five inch thick titanium door, protected from the outside by a ten digit code, a paw scanner and a thin layer of steel - twin marble stairs leading to agent Kelly 101's office and the balcony fronting it, a few tables here and there (in place for when Kelly gave unexpected speeches), a vending machine that the humans had left behind, and we in turn had filled with chunks of chicken, and lastly, the doors leading to yet more branches of HQ. The doors to my right and left led to the weaponry store, the dining hall, stairs down to the dorm's and the nursery, the smallest training facility in HQ and yet more corridors that branched off to even more corridors.

A sudden beeping noise brought me back from my thoughts, and turned my attention back to the computer screen. The AFFS (automatic face finder/scanner. Rubbish name, I know) had zoomed in on a twitching heap of fur which was spread across the grey paving stones of the town center. Pistachio? The fur colour matched, the breed matched, and according to the scanner the face (which I couldn't see yet) matched. He must have rolled over in his sleep - typical Pistachio, really. But why was he sleeping? After close inspection I managed to adjust the camera angle (yes, we plant cameras everywhere - no, it's not an invasion of your privacy) to see Pistachio's face. A trickle of blood fell from his forehead where a small gash had opened up. If he had been knocked out, that couldn't have done it. He must have hit is head, hard, and there's only one tiger that could have given a nimble dog like Pistachio an injury like that. KAT. Unfortunately, the last thing I realised was that Pistachio had been laid on top of something. Something large, spherical and that contained gunpowder. I only found out when he rolled away slightly, starting to wake up. Pistachio was now majorly concussed a few centimeters away from a ticking time bomb.

Just as I was about to get up and alert a superior about Pistachio's whereabouts, a high-pitched howl sounded throughout HQ, bouncing off the walls and stopping everyone in their tracks. I lifted my head from the computer and looked around, waiting for someone to make a move. I hated being the first to a meeting, because it made you look like a swat. As always, I waited for another dog to set off before I lifted myself from the floor and padded over to the main hall to join them. Usually, a meeting would be planned and if we were involved, we'd be given a time to meet and a place. This was different. The high-pitched howl signaled for an emergency meeting, but that wasn't the only thing that was different to the norm. Every one I'd been to so far was hosted by a superior, and as far as I know it was the same for everyone else.

This time, when we sat down, got into groups and whispered about what we predicted the emergency was, not a single superior climbed up to Kelly's balcony and began talking. They were all as confused as we were, sat with us and as lost as stray pups. I noticed a few that were well known hadn't shown up- Falcon, Nine, Kaya, and so on. They were probably busy in the field. As for us, we were all openly talking now. If a superior wasn't giving the meeting, then who was? The chit-chat grew louder, and then all the lights went out. I heard astonished gasps as the doors to Kelly's office seemed to be opening. I could just about see in the darkness, but I knew all right. Everyone knew. The superiors were with us, because Kelly was giving the meeting today. Yep, all this was very abnormal. Very.

The chit-chat began to die down as the lights flickered back to life. All eyes were gazing up at the balcony, and the annoying whispering in my ears had faded. The only sound now was Kelly's bushy white tail impatiently brushing against the stone floor on which she sat. It flicked back and forth for a few moments longer whilst her hazel brown eyes surveyed the utterly astounded crowd. An English Setter hurriedly bounded in to the room and attempted to mingle with the crowd - he clearly hadn't noticed what was happening yet. I didn't know his name but he was probably new, judging on the way he acted, anyway. The dog sat down next to Rita, and then when his gaze landed on Kelly he let out a startled squeak. Typical; he must have been a newly appointed Agent (just grown out of his apprenticeship), because he turned to whisper something to Rita before he noticed Agent 101's burning brown gaze locked on him. Immediately he silenced himself, and Kelly gave him a thankful nod before lifting her head to full height again.

Oh. My. God. In my entire life, all I have done is serve HOWLS, and not one day of my entire life has Kelly left her office. She spends her time locked away there - her secluded little corner with the crimson blinds that are always shut, and over secure steel door that is guarded round the clock - doing secret work that is a complete secret to everyone except those who know it. And now, she was here to tell us something even bigger than that. The biggest secret of ALL time. Who's her boyfriend and where is he now? Okay, okay. That was a joke. I doubt she's ever left her office long enough to wag her tail, never mind get a boyfriend. But it's obvious, though, isn't it? After all these years, I (or anyone else for that matter) have never seen her face. So why would she come out now if it wasn't something important? I could feel it, in the air. She was tense, I was tense, everyone was tense. Something big was about to happen. I knew it.

My thoughts were interrupted when Agent 101 began to speak.
"HOWLS, I am here today with some important news," Her hazel brown eyes scanned the crowd, and her ears twitched. She was nervous. Yet somehow, I found her to be completely calm in her own way. Even though she was showing all the signs - fidgeting, her eyes flickering around the room, her tail beneath where she was sat and her ears slightly lower than usual - her voice didn't waver as she said the first word. Nor the second or the third. I wondered, how did she do it? Had she never messed up? Not once, not ever? I'd always wanted that balcony for myself, but now I wasn't so sure. The nerves, the responsibility; now the English Setter- again. I caught a few words passed between him and Angel, who didn't seem to be listening when she realised that Kelly was. I heard snippets here and there, like 'chicken' and 'I hope she's okay...' but that was all I got. Eventually, he must have felt the glares of frustrated dogs burning into his back, because he shut up and gave a sharp nod to Kelly, before hurrying off through the east side. Kelly continued sounding a little disgruntled, but finished nevertheless.
"The ECOD is missing." she said simply. A shocked gasp rippled through the audience, like a large wave rolling in from the sea. But how? The- Oh, wait. I guess you want to know what the hell I'm talking about. Let me fill you in:

ECOD stands for 'Elite.Chain.Of.Diamonds'. There are four diamonds in total, and each allow the user to wield a different element. Each diamond is a different colour, and the colours represent the elements. These include fire, water, earth and air. All are dangerous, and can be deadly if they fall into the wrong paws. Especially when the diamonds are in the chain. You see, every diamond is unique; together, they are legendary. When they are linked as a chain, all the elements combine. This creates four diamonds (Well, technically there were four to start with, but anyway...), with five astounding abilities.

Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes. The room in which the ECOD is kept is six foot under, and encased in a thick wall of titanium. It's guarded twenty-four-seven by the biggest Akitas you've ever seen, and if you manage to get past them you have the laser beams to face. Not to mention getting it out of it's bullet proof glass case without setting of the alarm, before once again passing the guards and getting back outside.

I could no longer ignore the murmurs around me, which were growing louder with every passing second.
"Who took it?"
"How did they get past the guards?" Came from next to me. Exactly what I was thinking. Kelly continued above the racket, now hollering to make herself heard.
"Our main suspect is KAT-" a lot of eye rolling, from me included, "but another theory is the thief was someone in this room!"
And then a loud gasp, echoing around the hall of computers and dogs, the noise bouncing off of every wall. Well, I didn't expect that.

Oh, you want me to explain KAT now. It's all very puzzling, but here goes:
KAT is a tiger. A dirty, conniving little toe-rag of a tiger, and she almost destroyed us. Never again. it all started just two years after the last Elite died. We did our job; protected dog kind (can I get a whoop for the governing species?), but she didn't like it. According to her philosophy, cats are better, and they are in charge, and we are inferior servants. Of course, she couldn't achieve global domination for her catty friends (who mostly disagreed with her anyway, as all animals are treated fairly by our standards) with a protective force like HOWLS in the way. So, like all evil dictators, she pulled together a sorry excuse for an army, broke in, and attempted to blow us to oblivion. Long story short, she failed and we chased her away and the big bad kitty was never seen again.

Once again, Kelly interrupted my train of thought as to how KAT had anything to do with this. Though somehow I knew she was always involved in wrong-doings.
"So, I will be keeping a close eye on your training and your progress whilst we are solving this mystery. In a few months time, I will choose a select three of you to help me out in the field and destroy KAT once and for all. Thank you." Eyes widening, pulse racing, jaw dropping. Check. Did she really just say that? It could be me, you know. I could be in the field with the brilliant Kelly 101.

My eyes continued to gaze up at her, I - and the rest of HOWLS - had officially been blown away. The ECOD being stolen, that was shocking, but the fact that Kelly 101, the legend herself offering to go out in the field with us, that was just... astounding...

Kelly's bushy white tail slowly flicked once, dismissing us, and then she turned around and headed back into her office. The lights came back on, and I padded straight back to my computer to get on with what I had been doing.
"Back to normal," I heard a dog say. Normal? Well that was one way to put it...

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER TWO

I scanned my computer screen quickly, then pulled up the map of the surrounding area. When I was sure there was no trouble, I put it down again and began to work on the mission I was assigned to. And that mission was to discover where Agent 307 had gotten too. He'd been sent out on the mission to retrieve the bomb KAT had planted by AshRoad Stream hours ago, and he still hadn't returned to HQ yet. I was growing suspicious, and was starting to believe something had gone wrong.

Come on... I mumbled to myself, where are you? I was working as hard as I could now, and as fast as I could. If 307 got hurt, I don't think Falcon (the one who sent him out on the mission) would be able to forgive himself.
"Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!" What? Oh, the map! I exited what I was doing, and my eyes scanned the map for where the bleeping was coming from. There, right by AshRoad Stream, was a big, red dot. 307!

Immediately, I jumped up out of my seat (which was the floor) and charged past everyone. I could hear various shouting telling me to watch where I was going, but I ignored it. I was heading for Kelly. When I was close enough for her to hear me, I yowled as loud as I could,
"I've located KAT!" As swift as the wind she turned to face me,
"Where?"
"By the stream on AshRoad," I replied. She looked lost in though for a second, and then she snapped out of it.
"Right," she began, "Quick question. Do you know who the outsiders are?" I looked at her for a brief moment, then shook my head.
"No, I don't."
"I'll tell you later then. For now, i'm putting you incharge of sending out the agents to find 307, and see if they can catch KAT. Got it?"
Nodding my head, I smiled,
"Thanks!" Then spead off, back past all the agents, trying to find a few who would suit the job.

Reaching training room one, I skidded to a halt. Two of my friend's children were putting on a great agility performance. Deciding that they would be good for the job, I smiled.
"503, 210! Over here!" I yelled. They just continued to train, oblivious to what I had said. They had obviously forgotten their agent numbers - again. 503 and 210 do that a lot. They're still young, and still in training, but they show real potential. They remind me of their mum, Angel. Angel may not be an agent anymore, but she's still a member of HOWLS. She helps out every day around here, with the young ones. Anyway, sometimes you have to call those two by their birth names.
"Pistachio! Raven!" At once, the two children turned and raced towards me, panting as they did.
"Yes 206?" Raven asked, her green eyes staring up at me. I smiled at the two. They were still learning, but this would be a good experience for them.
"How would you like to go on a field trip?"

Pistachio smiled at me, I knew how excited he was.
"Really?"
"Of course! Go and find 459 and 308 to go with you," Pistachio looked puzzled. Raven nuzzled him, sighing and said,
"She means Texas and Falcon, you idiot!" After the rude comment, Pistachio gave his sister a warning glance.
"So, are you coming, or not?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Raven, before rushing off to find the other dogs that would accompany us.
"Girls," muttered Pistachio under his breath, "don't know their left from their right..."
I gave him a harsh look. He knew better than that.

A few moments later, Raven bounded up to me, 459 and 308 just behind her. Texas was a red husky, with tri-colored eyes. His right one was green - like a shimmering emerald - and his left eye was hazel brown. He had the perfect figure, and I blushed under my fur just thinking about him. Falcon, however, was an alaskan malamute, with intimidating yellow eyes and a black and white pelt. These two were experienced, brave agents, but they still respected us agents lower down the ranks.

"You called us?" enquired Falcon.
"Well, not exactly..." I blushed, this is the first time he'd spoken to me in such a non-serious voice. "K-" I shook the name 'Kelly' away, and used her 'formal' name.
"101 did. She asked me to take a few agents on a mission, and your the right dogs for the job. Are you up to it?" Of course they are! What kind of a stupid question was that!?

"Yep, you?"
I nodded. The question Texas had just asked had only one answer.
"Ready you two?" I turned to 503 and 210, who I could hear vaguely muttering in the background. Pistachio caught my eye, and before he could speak Raven smiled,
"Of course!"

We all headed for the exit, picking up our radio collars and weapons as we left. This was going to be fun. Me, incharge of a mission. I thought the day would never come. It wouldn't be easy, but somehow I knew it would all go well, in the end...

Approaching AshRoad stream, we braced ourselves. Just over ten minuites ago i'd been working at a computer, following orders. But that was the change - you see - now I was giving them. I signalled to hide in the bushes. 503 and his sister split up, leaving me, her and Texas together, whilst Falcon and Pistachio went to the opposite side.

Whispering to Falcon through my radio, I was barely audible,
"See anything?"
"Nothing so far."
I sighed, that was a bit of a let down. Though I did remind myself not to give up hope, afterall, we'd only been there just under five minutes.
"Wait! What's that?" The loud, but discreet mumble came from next to me, and I turned to see Texas gesturing towards something. My gaze landed on it. There, in the middle of the bridge, was the bomb. I used my coller to scan it, and before I could read it Raven read it aloud.
"Ten minuites before..."
"Before what!" I yelled, completely forgetting I needed to be silent
"Before d-death..." Me and Texas stared at each other blankly.

That couldn't be! It just couldn't... KAT had only planted the bomb about three hours ago, it was supposed to last five!
"206! Do you copy!?" My thoughts were interrupted when Falcon tuned in on my radio collar.
"What's going on?" I snapped out of it immediatly before replying.
"We found the bomb, any sign of 307?"
"Or KAT?" Texas added.

"Nope, no sign of KAT," just then Pistachio tuned in.
"But we found 307!" Falcon mumbled loudly, "In the danger zone!"
Agghh, geeze... I had to think fast. The agent was knocked out, right next to the bomb, a trickle of blood falling from his forhead. He wouldn't last much longer.
"Right, everyone spread out. I'll go disassemble the bomb, throw it in the stream, and get 307 to safety. Kids, you keep an eye out for KAT - Tex, Falcon?" I waited for a reply.
"We've got your back, Hawk," answered Falcon.

Phew, the orders were sorted. Now I could concentrate. Quickly - but quietly - I stepped out of the bush. I was about to race towards the bomb, when the most annoying noice planted itself in my head.
"BO-mb Ab-bOUt to DEstruct. BO-mb Ab-bOUt to DEstruct," As fast as lightning I looked up, and my eyes widened,
"Five, F-fOUr, THree, Two, O-"
"307!" Just then, Pistachio flew out of the bush, dodged all obsticals and jumped over 307, covering him. Then it happened...
BANG! BLACKOUT!

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER THREE

"Pistachio!" Raven yelled, about to charge into the smoke when I put my paw out to stop her. Ash was scattered everywhere, and black gas was rising into the sky, accompanied by ember flames. 210 stared on helplessly. It had all gone wrong. And it was my fault. All of it - my fault.
"Don't blame yourself," Texas mumbled, as if he could read minds. I looked at him,
"But it was my fault. I should never have included Pistashio and R-" I was cut of by Texas' hard stare.

Just then, Falcon walked over. I took a deep breath, and we sat down, waiting for the smoke to clear a little. When it did, you could see the difference the explosion had made. The trees had been stripped clean, the ground blackened, and the stream poisoned with ash. Falcon stood up, notioned to me, and I nodded to Raven. She fled towards the center of the devastation, crying her brothers name. Me and the others followed, though more slowly.

When we got there, 210 was leaning over her brother. Getting a closer look, I understood. Pistachio's rear leg had severe cuts that seemed to go on forever, half his tail had been blown off and his right ear torn to shreds. I turned around. As for 307, well, it was to late for him...

"I'm going to rip her heart out," muttered Falcon. I presumed he was talking about KAT, and turned back to Raven.
"What happened Hawk, what happened?" I could see the tear in her eye, and I think I felt a few welling up myself. It just goes to show what emotion can do to you...
"He'll be fine, 10, just help me get him back to HQ"
She nodded, and began to lift her brothers shattered body.

I padded slowly towards Texas and Falcon.
"Don't worry," I said, "We'll get some more agents to come pick him up." Falcon took a deep breath and looked up at me,
"Ok." The two then followed me back towards Raven, and helped to pick 503 up. This was going to be a long day.

"What happened!" Cried Angel as she bounded up towards us. We had just entered HQ, and already I could here dogs mumbling about what they thought had gone wrong. Me and Texas were carrying Pistachio on our backs, with Raven and Falcon close behind. Anyone could tell it was a disaster.

We laid Pistachio's broken body on the ground for some doctors to come and collect, and I waited for questions to be asked. A few moments later, Pistachio had been taken to hospital. Raven and Angel had probably decided to follow, as they were no where in sight.

"Where's Rilo?" Yowled someone from the audience.
"Yes, where is he?" Taura - or should I say 713 - left the crowd and sauntered up to Falcon. "Where's my son?" I tried hard not to gasp in disbelief. Taura was Ryok's daughter - she had obviously heard the news about her son not returning from his mission, and come to greet him when he did. Taura was a beautiful brown Akita dog, with blue eyes and long, silky fur. She was the envy of most male dogs in HOWLS, and I sometimes felt jealous.

Ok, I guess I owe yet another explanation. Ryok was supposedly one of The Elite, and had run HOWLS for many years. An origanal member of HOWLS - and one of Ryok's friends - somehow became powerhungry and jealous, therefor banishing Ryok from HOWLS, never to be seen again. After wandering the forest for many days, Ryok found Akuma. Soon falling in love, the pair mated, giving birth to Taura. Now, no one knows if this is true or not, but Taura may have taken Ryok's place, and become The Last Elite.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts.
"So?" Falcon shook his head to her word, and Taura looked at him, her eyes widening in shock. He tried to walk away, but she started shouting violent curses at him.
"How dare you! You as good as murdered my son, and you have nothing to say for yourself!? Your a disgrace! Yo-"
"Calm down!" I yowled, jumping infront of Taura just before she swiped - instead, the blow came from behind. I turned, to see somedog panting behind me. What!?

Now that was a suprise. I had never excpected Angel to hit me. We were close friends, but I suppose you couldn't blame her after what happened to Pistachio. She looked at me, her lips drawn back in a snarl. A quick glance around showed that our audience had left. Me and Angel were the only dogs in the entrance now.

"How could you?" A look of disgrace in her eyes, Angel continued. "How could you let that happen to Pistachio. After all I've done for you. How?"
"Listen, Angel! It wasn't my fault!" Those were the words I regretted. It was my fault, if I hadn't sent those innocent children out on an adults mission, this would never have happened.
"I'm going to see to my son," With that, Angel turned her head and walked slowly away, her tail drooping.

That night, I couldn't sleep. The weight of Pistachio's injuries rested heavily on my shoulders, and I couldn't bare it. So the next morning, I decided to apologize. That was the right thing to do, afterall.

I wandered around HQ, looking for Angel. This was tough. Where could she be? I asked myself. Where? I was knocked out of thought when someone bumped into me.
"Kaya?" Yep, one of the not so nice higher ranking dogs - to be honest, she hated me. But that was fine - of course, I hated her as well.
"Watch where your going, runt," I snorted, I wasn't getting into a fight today.
"Where's Angel?" I asked stubbornly. This FoxHound was getting on my nerves, already. She has a real nack for doing my head in.

"Haven't you heard?" She asked, trying not to laugh through her make-belief mask of suprise.
"About what?" This was serious now, no one had told me what was going on. Kaya chuckled descreetly.
"Ok, games up. Where is she?"
"In there," Kaya flicked her tail towars the temporary cell unit. "She tried swiping 101."
What!?

"Angel!" I yelled as I charged down the corridor in search of my friend's cell. Catching a glimpse of her bushy tail, I skidded to a halt, right next to her confinement.
"I'm so sorry, please, forgive me." She just looked at me, a pang of sorrow in her eyes.
"Of course I forgive you," I gave a silent sigh, "How's Pistachio?"
"Fine," I replied. "Don't worry. All that matters is that I get you out of here,"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Kaya raised an eye. Damn it! She'd followed me! My gaze rested on her for a moment - that was a pretty smart move. For a mutt, anyway.
"Your a high ranking dog. You have the keys - so you can get her out," She chuckled.
"Why should I? I was the one who locked her up in the first place."

Showing my shiny white teeth, I let out a loud growl, before swiping Kaya around the face.
"Agghh!" She yowled as my claws scraped across her eyes. Before I could go in for another hit, we were both silenced.
"Stop this nonsense!" I gulped. I gulped hard. 101 had just silenced us.

I bit my lip, bowed my head and walked up to her, Kaya following slowly. Kelly lifted her head, giving us a cold, hard stare. The type of stare that said 'what do you think your doing'. Yep, I thought so...
"What is the meaning of this!" She bellowed. Kaya hung her head, ashamed.
"Well, Kaya? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"S-sor-" I cut her short. I knew better than to let her take the blame.
"Wait!" I padded up to Kelly, "It was my fault,"
"Go on," She murmered, listening intently to my story.
"So, the next morning, I couldn't find Angel. I went looking for her, and Kaya pointed me in the right direction." I took a deep breath, "When I asked Kaya to get Angel out, she told me 'no, because I put her there in the first place'. So I -"

"Is that so? Well, I don't believe you," My heart sank. She looked at me, and Kaya smiled. Swift as lightning, Kelly turned and the smile dissapeared.
"I don't see why your smiling, it's you i'm talking to," Now it was if the smile had teleported it's self from Kaya, to me. Cool, huh?

Throwing me the key to Angel's cell, Kelly nodded and walked away. She was obviously extremely angry, as she was shouting at Kaya. Just before they left earshot, I heard her yell sternly,
"I'm very dissapointed in you, Kaya. You shall be punished."

Unlocking Angels cell, I smiled.
"Thanks," she mumbled. "You just saved my pride,"
"Don't thank me, thank 10-" I was cut of by distant yelling in the main hall. Me and Angel exchanged glances, then charged to the scene.
Kelly was back on her balcony. As far as I could see, Taura and Kaya were having a go at Falcon again. Kaya must've talked her way out of Kelly's punishement.
"You don't belong here!"
His head bowed, and Texas stood in front of him, Falcon looked extremely warn down. His ear was ripped and bleeding, and he had a scratch on his front leg. Kaya had obviously gone to far.

Taura, about to go in for another blow, was knocked of balance by a swift barge.
"Leave him alone!" Angel snarled, standing on top of 713. When she heard a yelp, she got off.
"How dare you! How dare you let Falcon take the blame for the death of your son! Yes, he died, but it wasn't Falcons' fault. He died because he tried his hardest, he died to save US. He didn't die because Falcon sent him on a mission! He died because this is reality, it was his fate! He went to a better place. If your such a great agent, you'd see that!"

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER FOUR

I gasped, that was the most Angel had ever said. Texas stood forward, looked at her and nodded. Raven was there, and she did the same. The next thing I knew Pistachio, Loki and Rita were all next to Angel. Loki and Rita were strong, well muscled Boxer dogs - a couple. They were close friends to Falcon, and had obviously overheard the row.

Kaya growled standing tall against Angel, but Taura bowed her head, ashamed of herself and whined.
"I'm sorry," she muttered "I didn't mean it, I really di-"
"Falcon!" But she was cut off when Angel shouted. Falcon was beginning to run away. I looked up at Kelly, and she nodded.
"Thanks, 101," I whispered, before charging after my friend.

Angel followed, Tex and Loki bringing up the rear. Raven and Rita had obviously decided to stay and wait. As I left, I heard Rita yapping at Kaya, and Raven comforting Taura, listening to her story.
"Enough!" Were the last words I heard as I bounded towards Falcon, and Chaos' Canyon.

Finally arriving, we sighed. Falcon was stood on the edge of the canyon.
"Thank god your okay!" Yapped Loki, running towards him.
"I wouldn't be so sure," muttered a voice behind me.
"Ruki..."

I turned around to face the rouge. The doberman was a fierce sight, her jet black eyes staring right at me. My heart pumped faster than ever, and adreniline gripped my body. This was the dog that had murdered my parents. This was the dog that had broken Tex's heart. This dog was going to pay.
"Murderer!" I yowled, throwing my self at her. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bane, another rouge pounce at Loki, whilst one more went for Tex.

"Aggh!"
I turned to see an unknown figure barging into Falcon. Eyes widening, I pushed past Ruki, and all the other brawling agents, just in time to see my friend being mauled of the canyon. Being mauled of the canyon, by KAT.
"Falcon!" But when I looked over the edge of the cliff, he and KAT were long gone.

Ow! I yelped aloud as something sharp dug into my shoulder. I got a quick glance of Tex and Loki tackling Bane before I blacked out. But my hearing was still ok, atleast, it was ok until Ruki decided enough was enough. Then I was completely out.

********************

"Ugghh!" I slowly lifted my head, which was stricken with pain. Vision was a blur, and my legs felt like jelly. I could just about hear Angel muttering to me in the background.
"Hawk. Hawk are you ok?"
"Yeah, I guess," I attempted an answer, but I have no idea if it came out right.

When I finnally came around, I realised Angel, Raven, Tex, Pistachio, Loki and Rita were all there, and we were back at HQ.
"Wha... What happened?" I asked, bewildered. I mean, it's not every day you randomlly wake up, back at HQ and everything's normal, is it?

Then it hit me. Everything wasn't normal. Something had happened. Something bad. Suddenly, everything came flooding back, and my eyes widened.
"Falcon!" I yelled, "Where's Falcon!"
"You do remember, don't you?" Texas questioned, puzzled.
"That he-"
"Fell off a cliff" I finished for Angel. That was a shock. Knowing that Falcon died because of-
No, not because of me. Not because I didn't get there in time. Because of... Kaya.

My pupils became slits, and I felt my teeth shudder. I snapped my jaw together, and pushed past Texas and Loki. Surges of anger hit me like knives. Falcon was one of the best friends any one could ever have, and I wasn't going to let his death just slip by. And when I say that, I mean it. I was deadly serious.

"Hawk, stop! You don't know what your doing!" I heard Loki yell.
"Hawk please!" Angel added. It didn't make a difference what so ever. This was my revenge. I growled, loud and clear, so Kaya stepped forward. It was just me, her, and a circling audience.

"What ya waiting for, your friend? He can't save you now, Hawk. Its just you and me."
"Aggh!" I yowled, "Your gonna pay!" I lunged for her leg, not missing, but she grabbed my ear. Apparently she wasn't letting go. Fair enough, I suppose the saying 'an eye for an eye' really is true. I pulled away, letting her tear half me ear. Pain gripped at my head. Oh well. This time I jumped, flinging my self at her. She fell to the floor under my weight, and I could feel the blood from her leg ooze into my mouth. She yowled in agony, and I decided enough was enough. I let go, and stood facing the defencless wreck. She murdered, and she payed.

Kaya looked up at me, her eyes seeming to turn red. She stumbled upright, and stood face to face with me. We growled at one another, pushing with our heads. For a minuite, I thought she was going to swipe. Just before she did, 101 stepped in - she pushed Kaya away, and towered over me.

"You injured one of my best agents, and then blamed her for your friends death."
I bowed my head.
"And you did the right thing, but there was no need to lunge at her," She loomed over me, disgraced.
"206 you will be demoted, you as well Kaya."

Me and the scent hound looked at each other for a moment, before Kelly bellowed,
"There will be no more of this! Return to your tasks!"

I did as I was told. This was no joke. And true, Kaya was out of order, but I suppose I could have stooped down to her level. Just a bit. Though I didn't mean too. I mean, sometimes you can't help it. Everybody steps out of line now and again.

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER FIVE

The next day, I thought long and hard about what had happened. Now Falcon was dead, I was most probably on my way to Kelly's bad books, and I had no mission.
"Hawk?" It was Texas. He looked as though he had some sign of excitement in his eyes, but he didn't show it any other way.
"101 assigned me to a role-"
"Good for you. Don't let Falco-"
"Down? I won't, cause you're coming too. Hawk, we gotta find Ruki."
What?! Ok, Ruki left HOWLS, betrayed me and murdered my parents. And now the top agent in the world wants ME (and my best friend) to seek revenge? I can't wait.

"Hawk!" My thoughts cleared, and I listened.
"We have to take two more agents, and choose one to leave here on radio and computer. We also need to leave someone in charge of the mission from here."
Okay, easy decision. Rita and Loki would come with us.
"Rita is definitely coming. And we need Taura involved. Okay, you wanna take it from there?"
Taura! That was shocking. Oh well; I suppose it was fine if she stayed.
"Well, Taura can stay on the radio. Rita and Loki can come, cause everyone knows their out for revenge. And to make him feel better, Pistachio can take the last role. Ok?"
"Nice decision, you gather the troups, i'll go notify Kelly."
This was going nicely. I was officially back on duty.

Texas sped of, and I went to go and find Taura. I called her by her name and she turned, wondering what I wanted. I told her everything and she smiled.
"Thanks, Hawk. I'll go get set up." Ok, so Taura was all set. Just then Rita and Loki came up to me,
"We heard about the mission," Rita began,
"And were in," Loki finished. Perfect. It was all going according to plan. Now all I had to do was find Pistachio. Over the passed few days, he had spent his time with his mum and his sister, slowly recovering. Until now. Now he was no where to be seen. Then I realised. What if he had gone to the Canyon. That's where Falcon had died after all.

"Rita, where's Pistachio?"
"He said he'd gone to the Canyon or something. Said he needed to apolagi-"
"Oh god!"
"Did angel go with him?" Next thing I knew, Angel was infront of me.
"With who?" My eyes widened. No, not Pistachio. Anyone but him. I charged, barging past Texas and Kelly. I had to get there. This was all making sense now. The bomb, the incident at the canyon. It was all so clear. KAT had done that so 307 would die, and Pistachio would be injured. That way Falcon would feel guilty, and go to the canyon. She could kill him, then- then Pistachio would feel even worse, because he wasn't there to save his mentor.

That would mean, he'd commit s-suicide. Leading us into a trap. I stopped, and thought. It was as if the whole room was circling around me. This had all gone wrong. Completely wrong. I thought about going to Kelly, but I couldn't. I had to take this into my own paws. Texas padded up to me,
"Where's Pistachio? What's wrong?" But I didn't have time to answer that question. I had to hurry.

I ignored everyone, jumping up to Kelly's balcony.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Kaya yelled, "Get down this in-" I left her to it, interupting. "Ok, listen up!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Pistachio's gonna die," Angels eyes widened, but I continued "Unless we do something. And if there's only a few of us, were all gonna die as well."

By now, the whole service was staring at me.
"Look I don't have time to do that big speech thing that everyone classes as heroic, but unless you wanna watch a trainee die I suggest you all come with me." I leapt from the balcony, and ran as fast as I could. Picking up a radio on the way out, I had a chance to glance back. Then I realised. I wasn't alone after all. Taura had followed, and pretty soon, half of my audience had tagged on. We all had radio collars on, and most of us had weopons. Tex threw me a mouth-grenade and charged along side me. We weren't gonna let Pistachio die.

We arrived just in time, and sure enough there he was was.
"Pistachio, no!" It was Angel and Raven. Just beforehe jumped, they ran up to him and pulled him back. You could see they all had tears welling up. Angel showed him back to the crowd, and Raven smiled at me, as if to say thankyou. I nodded. But just before she could come back to us, Ruki came out of nowhere and pounced on her.

"Go to hell!" I yowled. I wasn't gonna let this happen again. Not to Raven. I hurled myself at Ruki. She let go of the black Malamute, who ran back to the group. We brawled in the dirt, when I noticed another bunch of rouges came out of the blue, including some of KATS army. Though I hadn't noticed we were so close to the edge. Then I remembered. The grenade. But this wasn't any ordinary grenade, it was a smoke grenade. It allows you to escape from any tricky situations, if you throw it hard enough.

I just managed to pull it from my belt. About six of us had these, me, Angel, Texas, Taura, Loki and Rita.
"Now!" I batted the grenade as hard as I could at Ruki. She stumbled off of me, and just as I got back to the group the other grenades were thrown. I could sense the rouges backing of, confused, and we all headed away, back to HQ.

When we finally got there, Kelly was waiting at the entrance with Kaya. They were murmering to each other, but I couldn't work out what they were saying. Kaya then nodded and went to talk with Angel.
"Hawk!" Kelly gestured for me to go to her. Texas nodded and I did as I was ordered.
"Yes?" I said, bowing my head.
"Do you mind telling me what that was all about?" She said, "And why you smell of smoke?"

"KAT set a trap, we-"
"Walked straight into it. Why?" Ashamed, I continued.
"It's not as simple as that. If we hadn't have left, Pistachio would have jumped off the canyon. I took all those agents so if we were ambushed we could fight back"

I told her the whole story. The suicide attempt, the way KAT had it all planned, Ruki's attack.
"Oh, and I smell of smoke because we used smoke-grenades to escape." She looked at me, understanding.
"Lets just hope she hasn't got anything else planned..." She sighed. "Go to Kaya with Texas and Rita. She has a knew mission for you," She then padded of, her tail drooping. I also left, looking around for Texas and Rita. Angel sauntered up to me.
"Thank you, so, so much." She smiled, and I nodded passing her.

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER SIX

When I bumped in to Texas, he was with Rita, discussing what had recently happened.
"Hey," I said, walking up to him. "Kaya's got a new mission for us, 101 said we had to go find her," Tex gestured for me to go first, and the three of us padded of in search of the scent hound. When we did find her, she was waiting in the briefing room for us. She held a picture in her mouth of a blue greyhound.

I looked puzzled. Jay had been missing for over six months now, so why was she bringing this up? Time for me to explain, again. Jay was one of the best trainees we had. She was fast, quick thinking and brilliant in battle. But she went missing half a year ago. No one has spoken of her since. I still didn't get why Kaya was bringing her up now, because it was most likely that she was dead.

"Ok, I know this is totally out of the blue, but some of our best trackers - including Kelly herself - have scented Jay around the abandoned stadium. We think she may still be alive."
"And?" Rita asked, confused.
"We don't know if it's another of KAT's little games. We need you to go check it out, see if this is fake or not."
"Ok," I nodded. "If Catori gets to moniter us from here."

"And what's she got to do with this?" Kaya asked. Rita stepped froward.
"Oh come on Kaya, she's is Jay's mother - she's got everything to do with this,"
"I agree," Tex added, "If she's not involved, we're not," Kaya thought for a while.
"Fine. You leave first thing tomorow. Pick up your night vision at the door - as it'll still be dark - and take a few grenades. Just incase. Real ones this time. I'll notify Catori, for now you get some sleep, ok?"

Still be dark, what did she mean, 'still be dark'? Before she left, Texas asked the question I was about to.
"What d'you mean, still be dark?"
"What, don't you know what the sky looks like at 3.30am?" She chuckled.
3.30AM! She had to be joking...

Early the next morning, I was the first up. 2.30AM. God, was I tired. I sauntered to the training room, and started of on the treadmill. After all, if these tracks were phony - a trap - we were gonna have to run pretty fast. I then decided to try my hand at traget practice. Picking up the dart gun, I lined myself up with the target from four meters away. When I had, I strapped the gun - which would shoot on voice activation - into my belt. Sliding my aiming goggles over my eyes, I yapped,
"Fire!" The shot was perfect, it hit the target directly on the KATS-eye. I know - it was 09's idea - great isn't it?

I fired three more darts, then took off the goggles, unclipped the gun from my belt and padded quickly away. It was now 3.00am. Dang it, I was gonna be late! I picked up the pace and ran to the entrance, where I found Kelly and Rita. They got up this early? Wow. I never new that. Bowing my head in respect to Kelly, I tried to stop panting for air. Rita smiled,
"It's quater past, any sign of Texas?"
"Nope, not yet," A few seconds later he appeared, Kaya just infront of him.

"Everybody ready?" She asked. We nodded.
"Right, grab a radio, a pistol, a few grenades, and some multi-use goggles. Catori's all set, we're just waiting for y-"
"Hang on, multi-use goggles?" Rita interrupted, puzzled. I'd never heard of them before.
"9's new invention. At first they're nightvision, then there voice-activated to change to aiming-goggles - these match perfectly with your pistols. So i'd be carefull what you say, if I were you."

"Were all ready to go, Kaya," Catori yelled. Kaya swished her tail to signal the radio-activation, and then again to tell us to get a move on.
"Good luck!" They said in unision. Then we were off. I was in the lead, and grabbed all the equipment needed. I slid the nightvision part of the goggles over my head, strapped the black pistol into my belt - along with the six grenades, and then set of. Texas and Rita followed. We were on the move now. I watched the green screen infront of my face, wondering how far away the tracks were. When we got nearer to the old football stadium, we had to keep an eye out for other dogs. Even though it was three in the morning - and this stadium was abandoned - dogs still passed here to get to the other stadium in time to reserve a seat.

"Right, lets split up," Texas began, "Keep an eye out for any tracks - and a sign that this is fake - and open-line radio if you see anything. Got it?" I nodded. Me, Rita and Tex went opposite direction. Only five minuites later Rita shouted,
"Got it!" the three of us ran to where she was stood, whilst she analysed the tracks. Catori then tuned in,
"And your sure they're not fakes?"
"Positive."

"Agghh!" Just then Texas yowled. An unknown figure pounced on him. My eyes once again turned to slits.
"Rita, get as many pictures as you can! Hurry!" I was then pounced on. By KAT herself. Oh great. We had been ambushed! I struggled under her weight, but she didn't give up. Rita turned, and shot my attacker in the leg with a tranquiliser dart. She hissed, falling off of me. I threw a grenade at the floor, then ran for it. Luckily it was only a smoke grenade, but it did contain laughing gas, which if you inhaled too much of could knock you out cold for at least twenty minuites.
"What's going on!" Catori yelled threw our radios.
"I'll explain later," Rita replied. "Right now we gotta get out of here."

We ran past the mini explosion of smoke and back to where we had origianally come from. We had only been out in the field for half and hour and things had already gone wrong. Catori was waiting at the comouter when the three of us walked up to her.
"They were fakes, weren't they?"
"No, they can't have been," Rita added. She took off her goggles and passed them to the greyhound. "Take these and get a print of every image on the drive."

Catori did as instructed. And sure enough, the images showed how real the tracks were.
"Then what went wrong?" Kelly inquired as she padded over, Kaya by her side.
"KAT must have found out what we were doing," I answered, "How else would she have known." Texas looked of me, then Kelly. "Maybe she didn't. Maybe someone else did. I mean, it was KAT that pounced, but the dog came first," I thought for a short while. That made sense. But that meant... That meant someone was spying on us.
"Or worse," Rita added, as if she had read my mind. "Or we have a traitor on our hands."
"Either way, we've lost Jay's tracks. There's no way we're gonna find her now." Catori sighed, then slowly walked off.

The rest of that day took a while to end, because we had to work out what had gone wrong, and how KAT had found out about the tracks. When it finnally did, I was exhausted. The next day, I wondered whether I would have another mission or not, because to be honest, I don't think there's many left.

I sauntered around the main hall with my tail drooping, until Pixa (agent 742) gestured for me to go to her. I walked over, and waited for what she had to say.
"See that?" She said, pointing to something in the wall of the training room - where Raven and her friend K were.
"Yeah?" I said. What a floor in the construction of this place had to do with me, I have no idea. But I listened anyway. Afterall, Pixa was one of the few real computer genius' in the world.
"Don't you notice anything strange about it?" I shook my head. "It's a bomb for god sake! Pay attention!" And that I did. It came as a shock to me, but I hadn't noticed anything, I usually would have. Though nevermind, disabling it was more important.
"When one of those kids opens the door to come out, it's gonna go off. Unless someone goes in there and disables it - but thats the problem. I need you to get in there without opening the door and do just that. " But why did she need me?
"Why can't you do it?" I asked.
"Because I don't know how to get in without opening the door," She blushed, embarrassed. "All you need to do is go in and follow my instructions."

I turned and looked at the kids in the training room.
"Ok, but i'm gonna need something to smash the screen with, and some climbing equipment to get to the height of the bomb. I'm also gonna need some analysation goggles. Atleast that will give us some idea of who planted it,"
"Ok," She replied, then radio'd to someone to bring me the things I needed. When they arrived, I put all the stuff I needed on as fast as I could, then used the mallet I had been given to break the glass screen. I leapt through the patch where the window had been, and K looked at me.
"What was that for!?"
"No time to explain, just don't open that door," Then I shot the rope gun at the ceiling, and was pulled up to the height neccasary. I slipped on my goggles, and looked at the bomb. I opened it, and quickly decided which wire to cut. The green. I cut it, and nothing happened. The other two wires followed, still nothing. I took a picture of the bomb with my goggles, then lowered myself back down to the floor.
"Off," I said quietly, and my goggles turned off and slid up so I could see clearly.
"Come on," I said to Raven and K, "Lets get out of hear."

Raven went for the door, but it was locked, and Pixa was gone.
"Why's it locked?" Raven asked. "What's going on?" I turned, the bomb was bleeping. Once again my eyes widened. At the last minuite, the door opened.
"RUN!" I yelled. Raven went, but K didn't. I pushed him out, and then the bomb went of. The last thing I heard was a loud bang. Then my vision went blury and I blacked out. Once again, i'd messed up...

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER SEVEN

The room spun in circles around me, and fear gripped my heart. I was back at the canyon. Falcon had just been thrown from the cliff, and somedog had just jumped on Texas. It was, no it couldn't have been... A dog with white fur and black spots - a Dalmation. Then I was encircled with smoke, rouges coming out of nowhere. And the same dog showed up, again and again. Until I was alone. I was by the old stadium, my multi-use goggles on. This dog, it just kept appearing, it pounced on Texas yet again. But then it turned, eyes on me, and fled when I dropped a smoke grenade. Next thing I knew I was back where I had began, in the training room, dissasembling a bomb. We were about to leave, then it went off. BANG! The dog was in the debris, walking away as if nothing had ever happened. The dog was Pixa.

My head hurt and my vision was slightly blurred, though I could hear perfectly fine. My whole body ached, and all of a sudden I felt really hot.
"It was only a minor explosion, and as far as we're concerned, the damage isn't anything serious. As for 206, her leg is burnt and her fur is matted, but it's nothing we can't fix,"
"Hawk? Hawk can you hear me?" It was Angel. There was a doctor and Kelly talking behind me. I slowly lifted my head and groaned, then my memory came flooding back.
"Pixa!" I yelled, it was her, she'd done this.
"What?" Kelly questioned.
"Look, Pixa's behind this. Please, believe me. She's the one that ratted to KAT, she's the one that set the bomb off. She wanted me in there because I was close to discovering it," She looked puzzled, but then nodded. She addressed her agents quickly, and sent them after the Dalmation. I was a little unsteady, but I stood up.
"Your not going," The doctor said, "You need rest,"
"Tough look," I replied, grabbing my goggles from Angel and running off. My friend followed.
Boy am I glad I had that flash back.

Legs aching, I continued, a herd of agents infront. Whilst I was running, Kelly caught up with me.
"Look, I know your only trying to help, but i'm not going back, you can't stop me. Pixa could of murdered two children, and I-"
"What makes you think i'm gonna say that?" She replied, staying at my side. "I'm coming with you. I mean, i'm a dog and it my duty," I smiled. Me, Angel and her ran in unison, and picked up our weapons at the door. Kelly then took the lead, and we were well on our way.

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER EIGHT

"There!" Loki shouted, gesturing towards the traitor - who was well out infront. I picked up the pace, and ran faster than ever before. I held my tail high, and kept my eyes fixed on Pixa. I ran past Texas, Angel, Loki and even Kelly. I got so close, and then there was KAT. She came out of nowhere, and headed straight for me. She was twice my size, and bowled me straight over. I faught with her, sinking my teeth into her neck. She scraped my face with her claws, and I yowled before letting go.

All at once a whole bunch of her army appeared.
"Retreat!" Kelly yowled. The agents fled, and she waited until I had gotten loose before she turned and ran. I followed, and Pixa yapped triumphantly. We had failed. But atleast we knew who we were looking for.

When we got back to HQ, the doctor that had been trying to stop me from going had a stern look on her face. I ignored it. I knew Kelly would have something to say, so I headed straight for my desk and waited.

"Right. Listen up!" She began, "Pixa is a traitor, and I want her profile hacked and searched for any traces of betrayal. Then have her deleated from the database. I want HQ searched for any other bombs or little tricks, and I want this completed by the end of today. Understood?" She bellowed, her green eyes showing anxciety and anger. She swished her white tail and hit her front paw of the marble floor.
"Get on with it!" She yapped, before going back to her office.

I turned quickly, first heading for all the training rooms. I wanted to double check them, just incase. I wasn't going to let any child die because of some tiger. When I had finished, there were no bombs, no tricks, nothing. So I headed for my computer, just to check the database.

I put in my pass code, but it wouldn't let me in. Somehow, Pixa had rigged the whole network. None of us could log in. I tried to access my account three more times. But it just wouldn't work. Then a message popped up on the screen.
'What's the worse that could happen??'
This came up on everyone's screen, but something extra came up on mine. 'you know you want to...?'
It was a link. But should I click it? What to do... What to do...
"101!?"

She nodded. I held my breath and clicked on it. The lights went off, and something started laughing. When they came back on, the entrance was a mess. The walls were covered in dirt, and some sort of code was spray painted on them. It said,
aXyaKPIXAyaK. But what did it mean?
"There's spray cans hidden in the CCTV, and our whole computer system has been wiped," Nine pointed out.
"Plus, that code says PIXA ax Kaya. Which could means Kaya's next on the hit list," The scent hounds eyes widened. 09 finished by pointing to the security cameras.

"This is KATS cunning and Pixa's genius put together..." I mumbled aloud.
"Disaster," Rita finished.
Kelly looked around. "Get the walls cleaned, but keep a note of that code. Were gonna get this sorted out. Don't forget the ECOD. Get CCTV re-checked, and check for any tracks or scent of KAT and Pixa. See if there's anyone else involved."

[satuurnity]

CHAPTER NINE

At once we began searching HQ. I went straight down to the security cells. I checked the CCTV three times. Nothing. Nothing until a picture of Pixa came up on the screen.
"Catch me if you can..." It said, then began laughing irritantly.

That day also ended pretty quickly. I told Kelly what I had seen, and nothing more was said about it. She told us to get on with our missions, and told me to find Kaya. When I did, Kaya said we had a mission together. I wasn't best pleased, but I listened.
"Ok, so the same animal that stole the ECOD, dropped a fragment of diamond. The thing is, they dropped it in a small space. A very small space,"
"How small?" I had asked. That's when I began to get worried. I was chlaustrophobic, and I didn't want to have to squeeze into a space so small that my heart would stop pumping out of pure fear.

"It's down in the basement. There's a small hole to crawl through - a gap in the brickwork - which you would just be able to fit into. Then there's a minuiture crack in that hole. If you put your paw down it, you might be able to claw out the fragment," My jaw dropped. Litterally. That was way to small for me. But if it gave us some clue as to who stole the ECOD, I might just be up for it. I gulped.
"Fine, just promise this thing isn't gonna collapse ontop of me."
"Promise..."

I took a deep breath, turned my nightvision goggles on and carefully squeezed through the gap in the basement wall. I barely fit, and could hardly breath, but carried on. Sticking my paw in the crack Kaya had told me about, I searched for the fragment of diamond. Nothing.

Then the gap closed up. I panicked. It was as if the walls were closing in all around me, like all hope had dissapeared.
"Kaya help!"
"I can't, i'm not strong enough!" I heard scrabbling at the wall for a short while, but then it stopped. Kaya wasn't even trying to get me out.
"Go get Texas!" Then I heard her pad off, though I didn't believe for one second she would come back. The level of fear rose higher and higher in my body, until I couldn't cope. No one came. No one. I yowled as loud as I could. I couldn't hold on any longer, so I let it out. Then someone came, three dogs. Three.

They dug until I could see daylight. I quickly crawled out and they plugged the wall up again, so it didn't collapse. I took a deep breath, then nuzzled Texas.
"Thank you!" I smiled, and looked at Kaya. Then I realised. The code on the wall had said PIXA ax Kaya, but it had also said Kaya ax PIXA. Maybe ax meant X, and X meant they were together... Working together...
Oh god...