Road Rovers: Appearances

00:23, Secret Lab, Somewhere Underground 

A red-suited woman with black hair placed a dog inside a testing chamber and closed the door. Turning to a control panel she tapped away at some keys, and a loud hum of energy came from the booth, accompanied by a hiss of gas and a pinkish glow. The dog yelped and scrambled to get out, but the woman ignored the sounds and checked an instrument panel. The energy levels weren’t high enough, so she reached for a lever and boosted the power. The dog grew more frantic as the strange radiation continued to bathe her body and saturate her brain. Finally, as the energy levels reached their peak, the dog let out a howl of unimaginable anguish as she felt her very nature being changed, corrupted. The woman shut off the power and looked at the figure seated above her.

"What are the readings?" asked the rough voice of her boss.

The woman clicked at her keyboard. "Running brain scan now," she said with a thick Scottish accent. She was silent for a moment, then declared, "It’s just as we hoped, General, and better. Brain activity is up in all areas. A few of them are even off the scale."

"And the programming?"

"Complete success," she answered with a smile as charming as any vampire's, minus the fangs.

"Excellent. Begin her training at once, Groomer."

"Yes, General."

Three Months Later, 16:53, Anytown USA

"Exile! Behind you!" shouted a retriever mix named Hunter. Unlike most dogs, Hunter stood on two legs and could talk. He was part of a superhero team called the Road Rovers, who were currently fighting off a group of cano-mutants. The cano-mutants looked a lot like the Road Rovers, except they were bigger, stronger, and had a lot more teeth. Why they had attacked in a place like this was anybody’s guess, but that wasn’t the Rovers’ job to figure out just now. Their job consisted of three words: kick some tail.

Exile, a Siberian husky, spun around and froze the cano-mutant behind him with a blast of freeze vision. "Thanks, Comrade!" he called.

Another cano-mutant lunged at Hunter, but the super-fast hero dodged behind it. "Not there," he called to the confused mutant. It whirled around and tried to punch him, but Hunter dodged again. Then he began to run in a circle as the cano-mutant spun, trying to keep up. Soon the thing was so dizzy it fell over unconscious.

"Nice work, Huntie," said a collie named Colleen. She kicked another cano-mutant, knocking it on top of the one Hunter had beaten.

"Thanks. You too," said Hunter, looking around. The entire street, somewhere in a downtown area, had been reduced more or less to rubble. Demolished fire hydrants spewed into the air, cars lay overturned, and buildings lay in heaps. Every mutant that had been there five minutes ago had either run or was on the ground, out cold. "Well, it looks like our work here is done."

"Help!" called a voice from under the remains of a decimated wall. A plaintive barking accompanied the cry. Shag, the sheepdog who was closest to the wall, started digging and was quickly joined by his fellow Rovers. Soon they uncovered a young woman and an Irish Setter. "Here," said Hunter, extending a hand, but the woman shrank away. "It’s okay, we’re your friends. We took care of the bad guys."

"Yah, they will run twice as fast the next time they find out we’re in the neighborhood," boasted Blitz, a Doberman with a German accent.

The woman wiped her glasses on her shirt and put them back on. "Oh!" she said. "Sorry, I couldn’t see too well and I thought you were more of those…" she held up her hands in a clawing gesture and spoke with an uneasy grimace. "… things."

"That’s alright," said Hunter, holding out a hand to help her up. She took it. Colleen lifted the dog out.

"I’m Felicia," the woman introduced herself. "Thanks for the save."

"Are you okie-dopey?" asked Exile.

"Huh?"

"That’s okie- dokie, Exile," Hunter corrected. I ought to get you a phrasebook or something for your birthday."

Shag said something in exasperated tones, and Hunter slapped his forehead. "Oh, right, that was supposed to be a surprise! Duh."

Felicia looked totally baffled. "I still don’t get what the husky said."

"His name’s Exile," Hunter explained. "He was…"

Blitz apparently couldn’t resist the urge to butt in any longer. "And I’m Blitz," he added. "I’m a purebred Doberman Pinscher, and I really like to-"

Exile yanked him back. "Don’t be weird boy," he grumbled.

Hunter resumed almost as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, Exile was just asking if you’re okay."

"Oh." She shook herself to check for anything loose. "Well, I don’t feel like I’ve broken anything."

Colleen examined the dog. "No damage here, either."

The woman nodded. "It must’ve been some kind of miracle. That steel beam fell just so that there was a sort of cave where we were."

Hunter nodded and looked around. "Well, it looks like our work is done now," he said.

"Oh, please don’t go," pleaded Felicia, grabbing him by the arm. "They’ll be back, I’m sure of it."

"Huh?" The Rovers looked at her in confusion.

"Oh dear. I suppose I’d better go back to when it all started." She took a deep breath. "You see, I have to move soon and I can’t bring Abby- that’s my dog- with me. I’ve been trying to get friends and family to take her in, but nobody has enough room. The animal shelter’s full, and the only place I can think of left is the pound, and I can’t bear the thought of leaving her there."

Hunter nodded sympathetically. He knew all about pounds.

"But what does that have to do with the cano-mutants?" asked Blitz.

"Well, a few days ago a woman came to my door asking about Abby. I remember she wore a red jumpsuit and had black hair. And she talked kind of funny, like she was from another country or something."

"Scottish?" ventured Colleen.

"Yeah, that’s it," Felicia confirmed, snapping her fingers.

Shag snarled at the woman’s description, startling Felicia.

"Sounds like Groomer," translated Blitz.

"Who?"

"Someone we know. Not a good egghead," explained Exile.

"Oh." Felicia wrinkled her forehead at Exile’s butchered expression. "No wonder Abby growled at her. Groomer said that if I didn’t hand over Abby there’d be trouble. And now those things show up, trying to take her away!"

The Rovers looked at each other. They knew that Groomer and her boss General Parvo often kidnapped dogs to turn into cano-mutants, but it wasn’t their style to make threats first.

"Hey, I have an idea!" said Felicia, brightening. "Abby could be one of you!"

"Huh?"

"You guys are just regular dogs most of the time, right? I read that in an interview some newspaper did with you. Couldn’t you make her a Road Rover? She’s really smart. Here, let me show you." She pulled a pocket calculator out of her purse and laid it on the ground in front of Abby. "Abby, on," she commanded.

Abby gingerly used her claws to hit the "On" button on the calculator.

"Eight times three," said Felicia. Abby pushed the buttons on the calculator, putting in the problem. The Road Rovers were impressed. None of them had ever met a dog- other than themselves- that knew how to use a calculator, and never in canine form. Felicia demonstrated several other things Abby could do, and in ten minutes the Rovers were thoroughly amazed.

"Maybe she could be one of us," said Colleen. "If she’s that smart now, think how smart she’d be as a Road Rover."

The others voiced their agreement. "It would solve the problem of where she could stay when Felicia moves, too," added Exile.

"Yah, I would be glad to have her around," added Blitz, earning him a collar-yank from Exile.

"We’ll ask the Master," Hunter finally decided. "You guys stay here in case there’s any more trouble. Colleen, we’ll take the cano-mutants back to the base so they can be turned back into dogs and returned to their homes."

"Roger, Huntie," said Colleen.

When they returned a little more than two hours later, Felicia was anxiously awaiting their answer. "What did he say?" she asked.

Hunter answered with a grin. "The Master says that Abby would be a welcome addition to the Road Rovers."

19:00, Road Rovers HQ

Abby was hesitant to go anywhere near the transdogmifier, but eventually they convinced her to get in. There was a hiss of gas, through which her silhouette could be seen changing shape. When she emerged, her face looked much as it had before, with long furry ears and some hair that fell over one eye, giving here a slightly coquettish look. From the neck down she looked like Colleen, and she was wearing a silver-blue outfit like the other Road Rovers. She raised her hand in front of her face, turning it back and forth. "Amazing!" she breathed. She looked down at her new humanoid form. "Absolutely amazing!"

"Welcome to Headquarters, Abby," said Hunter. "I’m Hunter, and these are-"

She cut him off. "Yes, I remember