(Disclaimer: Mature Language)

As the dogs in the Den started off their part of their day handling business for Avery, a rather specific family in the High End district were busy in their own right. Three Terriers arrived in the kitchen of the home, each with their bowls being filled and hearing one of the owners on a phone call. The dogs chowed down and as they were eating, one of them looked at the other, noticing a scrape on their face.

"Hey, Harper? What's that on your face?" The Terrier asked as he got closer and held the pup's head in place to examine.

"I-it's nothing, dad." Harper lied as he got his father's paw off of him, his mother soon coming into the picture.

"Hendrix, honey, maybe it is nothing but it does raise the question, what happened?" The caring Terrier asked as both her and Hendrix stood side by side and waited for an answer.

"I wa-was chasing squirrel and I ran into a tree, I didn't see where I was going." Harper lied as his father gave him a doubtful look as did his mother.

"Well, whatever the case may be, I can assume that-." The female Terrier was cut off.

"Hey, Hendrix, Clara?" One of the owners called out as they got close to the three Terriers. "Gracie and I are heading to a politician's party to make a speech and need Clara to come with us to represent, the press is going to be there so we need to look our best." The owner explained as he placed his phone in his back pocket.

"Why not Hendrix, sir?" Clara asked, tilting her head.

"I think Hendrix just needs the rest, he's been to most of these and I think he could just sit one out, I trust him with my life." The owner smiled as he petted the pure bred Terrier, receiving a wag from him.

"I'm glad, sir." Hendrix smiled. "When are you expected to be leaving the premises?" The Terrier asked.

"In around two hours, you can start heading out to get groomed and such with Gracie, Clara." The owner smiled as he reached out to pet Harper, who stepped back in response.

"Roman! We can start heading out now, to make sure we don't arrive late!" Gracie yelled out from across the rooms. Roman sighed as he stood up.

"I love that woman but, Jesus, she drives me crazy sometimes. Come on, Clara." Roman gestured as the two followed him outside, with Hendrix motioning for his son to stay there and finish his food.

Roman and the two Terriers headed outside to meet up with Gracie, with her opening the passenger seat and enticing Clara to hop in with her, which the female Terrier did. The politician smiled as he turned back to Hendrix, kneeling down and petting him. "Anything happens, you call us, alright?"

"Yes, sir. You go enjoy your time, seems that lately, you've been stressing out over this upcoming election." Hendrix reminded as Roman chuckled.

"Nah, I just haven't advertised enough and with all the chaos going on downtown, I'll need to persuade the people that I'll do something about it." Roman stated as he stood up and walked over to the driver's side of the car, yelling out one last thing to the Terrier before leaving. "We'll most likely be back late! You remember how to operate the food canisters, right?"

"Yes, sir!" Hendrix nodded as the trio soon drove off, with him waving as Harper stepped outside. "You finished your-? Oh, thanks." Hendrix smiled as he grabbed his modified pup tag from his son's paws and shooed him away. Shortly, it started to ring as the Terrier quickly placed the tag on his neck, with it automatically latching itself on. The call was answered after some time and the voice on the other end confused the Terrier.

"This Remington? Hendrix Remington?" The voice asked through the pup tag.

"Who the hell is this?" The Terrier asked as his deep voice tried intimidating the caller on the other end.

"Oh, come on, don't act like you forgot about us." The voice chuckled as Hendrix realized who it was.

"Gideon, what do you want?" Hendrix asked, gritting his teeth in annoyance of the Irish Wolfhound.

"It's not what I want, it's what I need." Gideon stopped his joking manner and spoke in a serious tone.

"Which is?" Hendrix asked yet again, hoping to be done with the crime-affiliated dog as soon as possible.

"You're going to help me take down those useless dogs at the Den." Gideon answered as Hendrix froze, soon asking another question.

"And why the fuck would I do that?" Hendrix asked as he demanded a straight answer.

"Because you can't back out of this one." Gideon answered as he continued on. "Your son made sure of that."

The Terrier's concern grew even more as he heard the mention of his son. "What're you talking about?"

The Terrier heard a chuckle on the other end as the Irish Wolfhound explained. "Your sweet son has been handing a courier of mine some stuff that belonged to you and your family, as a little side business, I guess he wants to be a McAllister. But he messed up, my courier didn't receive his drops since then and now your son is in debt and if he doesn't cough up anything...well, I think you know what we have to do if it comes to that." Gideon threatened as the angry Terrier yelled in retaliation.

"You lay your filthy paws on my son or anyone in my family and I will fucking rip them off!" Hendrix cursed, wanting to get his claws on the Irish dog as soon as possible.

"I'm hoping I won't have to anyway but it's simple, you help us, and we won't tell the public that your son has been involved with us and we know how desperate public figures can get when things like that happen." Hendrix didn't want to agree but Gideon was right, some public figures would do desperate things to save their skin and it would definitely happen in a place like Boroughton. The Terrier sighed as he came to an agreement with the Irish Wolfhound.

"Alright, so how am I going to help you take down those dogs at the Den?" Hendrix asked as he walked around to the backyard of his house.

"Think about it, you worked with them a long time ago so you must know something, know someone, at least." Gideon answered as Hendrix gave it some thought, sighing as he realized he had spill the information.

"I knew this dog, Avery, I did some work with him and some other dog named Spencer. If I remember correctly, Spencer's a Border Collie and after some time, he settled at some place called, 'The Gatherer's Garden'." Hendrix explained as he placed one of his paws on his head, feeling guilty for what he just did.

"Where is this place?" Gideon asked as Hendrix tried remembering.

"Wolf street? Wolfen street? I don't remember but it was something like that." Hendrix answered honestly as Gideon came to a final conclusion.

"Alright, I have a new associate scouting out the Downtown district so they'll keep an eye out, thanks for the information." Gideon laughed as Hendrix asked him one final thing.

"How would I know you're not just going to let this information go public anyway?" Hendrix asked.

"It's just insurance at this point, ya sap. Those gowls are more of problem than they need to be and I need all the help I can get." Gideon answered as Hendrix replied with a snarky remark.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing."

Gideon sighed as he let out one last warning. "Whatever, you better not be lying to us, Hendrix, or I will see to it myself that your family gets buried six feet under." The call ended as Gideon soaked up everything that just happened. Angered by the information he received about his son, he stormed into his house and confronted the young Terrier, grabbing his collar and pulling him close.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" Hendrix yelled out as his son winced in response, soon asking a question of his own.

"What? What did I do?" Harper asked as he raised his paws, trying to get his father's grip off of him.

"Don't play stupid with me, Harper, why did you start dealing with the McAllister's?!" Hendrix barked as Harper still tried playing dumb against his father.

"I never did!" Harper lied as Hendrix placed his free paw on his eyes, caressing it down in frustration as his hard headed son was still defiant on the whole thing.

"Yeah?" Hendrix released his grip and played back some of the audio from the call he just had with Gideon, exposing Harper for his lies. "Still think you're innocent?"

"Fine! Fine, I worked with them, you happy now?!" Harper yelled as the two calmed down for a moment.

A sigh escaped the near-seethed breaths of the full grown, purebred Terrier as he passed a piercing glance over to his son. "What is wrong with you, Harper? Dealing with those bastards?"

The rebellious Terrier scoffed at his father's question, moving his head to the side as he gave an answer. "What's the big deal? They weren't going to do anything."

"Wer-weren't going to do anything?! Those bastards are planning to kill all of us if I don't help them out! You didn't give them what they wanted and now they're threatening to go public with everything, that'll put all of us in a tight spot!" Hendrix stated as Harper was starting to feel bad for what he did.

"It's not my fault! Those stupid pups ambushed me!" Harper defended as Hendrix looked back at him, eyebrow raised.

"What pups?" The Terrier asked.

"Some small golden brown pup and some grey mongrel, they ambushed me and pinned me down, started asking me questions, I had to tell them something so I ratted out the McAllisters to save myself." Harper answered as Hendrix gave it some thought, shooting one last question that could confirm his plan if it was right.

"You remember what those pups were wearing?" Hendrix asked.

"Th-they were wearing gear of some sort, looked like something those K-9 units would use." Harper answered as Hendrix let out a chuckle as he started walking towards the door, his son wondering where he was going. "Where are you going?"

"Going to visit an old friend, maybe there's a way to fix this, maybe not, but I have to try." Hendrix answered as he looked at his son. "Anything unusual happens, you call me, I'll try to be back before they get back from their party, if I don't, do not tell them anything, stay quiet about this whole thing."

With that, the Terrier left his son all alone as he ventured out, heading towards the Downtown district in hopes to fix his new problem.

<><><><>

Fast forwarding back to the dogs at the Den, Nashi and Delta had to head back to scouting out the streets in case any McAllisters wanted to end up spying on them. The Black Husky sighed as he let out a complaint. "Like I said before, this is such bullshit. You couldn't have gone with that Shepherd?"

The Australian Shepherd rolled his eyes, "Is that all you're good for? Complaining? Suck it up, alright?" Delta asked as Nashi scoffed. The dog always noticed something odd about the Husky, so he decided to shoot a question towards him out of the blue. "This may seem random but what's with the scarf? It's the middle of the summer."

Nashi placed a paw on his scarf and flicked it over his neck, soon answering his question, even though it wasn't much of an answer. "I don't really know."

"Trying to add to that mysterious persona, hmm?" Delta teased as he chuckled, soon getting a slight smile from the Husky. The dog noticed the white symbol on the scarf, a Japanese kanji but the dog had no idea what it translated to. His head tilting, he asked another question towards Nashi, "What does this mean?"

The Husky raised his brow as he looked at the kanji on the scarf, "Oh yeah...it's better if you don't know." With that, the Husky got some distance from the Australian Shepherd, leaving him perplexed about that cryptic meaning.

Delta caught back up with the Husky, shooting yet another question at him, "Wait, so if I, somehow, answer this, will I get a full backstory of this whole 'I hate everything and everyone' phase you go through every day?" The Australian Shepherd asked as Nashi rolled his eyes.

"You already know damn well why, back off." Nashi quickly answered as he brushed Delta off, who was still defiant.

Delta sighed. "As much as you and I don't work well, I'd still want to help you, I know you went through a lot of trouble with the McAllisters but hey, you're not the only one and now, you're letting your little personal vendetta against them cloud your mind! You ever thought you can try and, I don't know, control it?" Delta huffed as Nashi continued to glare at him, realizing in some way, he was right. "The only reason we're doing this scouting crap is because you wanted to take a stash from them when all we were assigned to do was scout the place out."

"Oh my god, here we go again, let it go!" Nashi argued as he rubbed his eyes with one of his paws.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen because now, Levi is all the way where Spencer is, trying to get us work because of your antics." Delta countered as he crossed his paws.

"What's so bad with that? If Avery says he's good, then he's good." Nashi argued back.

"D-did you not remember what happened to Isaac? His first trip there and he was messed up bad when he came back, Avery and Mavis were worried out of their minds." Delta stated as Nashi rolled his eyes.

"Those two are always worried about him, let's just finish this scout so you can just fuck off for the day, alright?" Nashi concluded.

"Fine, whatever you say." Delta shrugged, knowing he couldn't get through the hard headed Husky without causing him to get violent.

<><><><>

Avery moved around, reorganizing some stuff in his office as Mavis and Mika laid close by, waiting for an order from the Greyhound as he changed his mind from earlier. He broke the silence as he asked the Bernese Mountain dog a question. "So, Mika, you remember any other spots where the McAllisters might be hanging around or places they might have some control over?"

The duo's ears shot up at the question, with Mavis nudging the Mountain dog to respond as to not get the Greyhound impatient. The large dog stood up and answered the question to the best of her ability. "U-um...I'm not thure. I wathn't there long but I did hear talk about a club in the dockth not far from the warehoutheth."

Avery stopped what he was doing and turned his head at the dog. "A club? You hear anything else? Like what that club was for? They could be using that place to move stuff from time to time." The Greyhound saw the Mountain dog shrug, signifying she didn't know more so he came up with a plan. "Alright, well now I got a job for the two of you. I want you both to head down there and scout the place, see what you can find, see what entrances the place has and such." Avery explained as Mavis gave a glare at the Greyhound, letting out her thought on the idea.

"What? Are you crazy? Nashi and the others just stole from them, if they were smart, they'd lock that place before we even get the chance." The Retriever continued on. "Also, why bring Mika along? They're looking for her! They catch a glimpse, we are dead meat. Why not just wait for Isaac and the rest to come back?" Mavis protested.

Avery gave his answer rather quickly, "Did you forget that the public is currently keeping an eye out for your breeds? They see all of you together and questions are going to be asked, my solution is this, go with Mika and don't get caught. We don't get the jump on the McAllisters, they're bound to get the jump on us." Avery brushed the Retriever off as he went back to organizing his small shelf.

Mavis knew she couldn't argue with Avery, it could lead to...disastrous consequences so she held back, letting out a defeated sigh as she gestured for the Mountain Dog to follow her. "We'll keep you informed when we get there." The duo soon left the office as Avery looked back, letting out a sigh as he went back to his normal business.

<><><><>

A sigh escaped the muzzle of one of the pups laying down in the safe house, waiting for the time to pass by and their friends to return. The Labrador looked over and saw his Dalmatian friend keeping his distance and his injured paw elevated to soothe it. He walked over and comforted him, hoping to make him feel better but heard the Dalmatian quietly crying to himself. "I just want to be alone, Zuma."

The Labrador, concerned, ignored the Dalmatian's request and laid down next to him. "After what happened, I'm not leaving you alone, just know that everything's going to be okay, dude." Zuma smiled as he saw the Dalmatian wipe the tears from his eyes.

"I just never thought he'd do something like this, attacking his own-." The Labrador cut him off.

"Don't talk about it, it's over, you're safe. We're taking our time and we're going to fix this, things will go back to the way they were." Zuma assured as Marshall gave it some thought.

"What if Chase...what if he doesn't even want to come back?" Marshall asked, laying his head on the cold floor.

"I doubt it, he wouldn't put criminals over us..."Zuma gave it a thought about his beliefs in the Shepherd. "...would he?"

As he was going to continue his conversation with the Dalmatian, his tag started ringing as Marshall nodded at him to answer it. "Yeah?"

"Mate, I need you and Skye to meet me near the docks, Rocky and Rubble are on their way back already." Decker ordered as Zuma looked at the Cockapoo across the room, signaling for her to come to him.

"What for? Are we scouting some more, dude?" Zuma asked as Skye caught up with him.

"Yeah, there's a club in the docks somewhere so I need your gear and Skye's to do some recon before we move on." Decker answered as Zuma and Skye have each other a stern nod.

"Alright, we'll be there soon." Zuma advised as the two attached their packs on them.

"Here's hoping no one gives us a second look." Skye said as she tightened her pack.

Zuma chuckled, "I doubt it, dudette, we should be fine though." The Labrador smiled at the Cockapoo as he looked at Marshall. "Don't worry, Marshall, everything's gonna work out." Marshall nodded at the Labrador as the two left the safe house and made their way towards the docks.

<><><><>

Laughter was shared between the two dogs as they continued to make their way back to the Den, crossing the street as honks were blared at them.

"So, tell me again, what did he do?" Levi smiled as he glanced at the Shepherd.

"He kept doing these dangerous stunts all because he had this collar on, apparently, it was giving him luck, total garbage, by the way." Chase chuckled.

Levi had a thought rummaging around in his head, why was the Shepherd telling him this? Was he actually getting comfortable with Levi or was it something else? With more questions than answers, the Alaskan Malamute decided to ask the Shepherd one of his own. "Why are you telling me this?" Levi immediately defended his question. "It's not that I'm annoyed, it's just...that before, you didn't seem comfortable with this, with me tagging along." The Shepherd stopped in his tracks, leaving a shudder on the Malamute's back, thinking he triggered something bad.

"You...you just remind me of him, he's an optimistic idiot, you're an optimistic idiot." Chase smiled as he continued on. "But when the time came to be serious, you two showed it." Levi's ears lowered at the answer as he looked to his side.

"Thanks...I guess." The Malamute soon had a thought come to his head. "Wait, what happened to him? If you don't mind me asking?"

The Shepherd sighed as he answered the question, choking on his words. "I...I h-hurt him." The Malamute stopped in his tracks as he heard the answer.

"We can go back home..."

The Shepherd closed his eyes as he lowered his head, letting the flashbacks flood back in and echo through his mind.

"Isaac?"

"I'm not losing you again!"

His claws dug in the concrete, nearly breaking them as rage and sadness took over his emotions, the words echoing even louder as the pup's mental state was getting worse.

"Nothing but a coward who doesn't even care..."

Levi noticed the Shepherd's heavy breathing, as he inched closer towards the Shepherd, he heard low growls coming from him. "Isaac, take it easy, everything's alright." The Malamute placed his paw on his shoulder.

"I wanted to help you..."

"Shut up, Marshall. Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" The Shepherd lashed out, slicing his claws at the Malamute and causing him to jump back in pain. Levi held his injury as he looked at the Shepherd, who was still heaving in anger, fire in his eyes, the Malamute had no clue what got over him but he had some notion.

"Isaac?" Levi called out, soon seeing him calm down and realizing what he did.

"L-Levi? I'm...I'm so-sorry, I-I don't know what..." The Shepherd approached the Malamute but in a quick response, Levi kept his distance.

"Hey, look, just take it easy, stay right there." Levi calmed down as he winced every once in a while from the sharp pain. "Isaac, are you...are you alright?"

"I-I'm sorry, Levi, it was just...I don't-I don't know what came over me, maybe it was just-." Levi cut the Shepherd off.

"Look, just breathe. Let's head back to the Den and we'll talk about it later, alright?" Levi insisted as he calmed the Shepherd down.

Chase nodded in agreement, feeling guilty as he saw the Alaskan Malamute wipe the blood off his muzzle. The pair soon began their trek back to the Den, with Levi keeping a short distance from the Shepherd, still having that feeling that he'll attack again.

<><><><>

Mavis and Mika traveled through the streets of Boroughton, keeping a close guard in case a stray or two caught wind of the Bernese Mountain Dog. After some time, the two finally made it to the docks, reaching one of alternate entrances they had and snuck around, hoping to not get spotted. As Mika kept an eye out, Mavis pressed her pup tag and called Avery. "Boss, we made it to the docks, remind me again what you want us to do?"

The Retriever heard a sigh as she soon heard an answer. "Look around for other ways inside and find out where exactly the club is located, which warehouse it is." Avery answered.

"Got it." Mavis assured as she was about to end the call.

"Remember, you're in hostile territory and everyone's busy at the moment, you're gonna be on your own for a while. Just...just be careful." Mavis heard a hint of worry in the Greyhound's voice, almost like...he cared.

"Don't worry, we'll scope it out quick and make our way back." The call soon ended as Mavis gestured for the Mountain dog to follow behind her. "Alright, I know it may be scary to be back here but I need you to let me know where the club is." Mavis insisted as she kept an eye out.

"You thee where the large boat ith docked? Farther down from there, I think." Mika guessed as the Retriever nodded.

The two snuck past multiple workers, who most likely saw them but paid no mind, and many of the McAllister's. Using the cargo containers and such as cover. The two saw the large boat that Mika was talking about close by and in the distance, a warehouse. Mavis peeked her head out and saw a group of two dogs heading towards them, in a panic, she quickly devised a plan.

"There's a patrol heading over here! Quick, hide behind that crate and wait for my signal. If we get separated, just head to the club and I'll find my way back to you." Mavis explained as she began ruffling up her fur.

"What? Mavith!" The Retriever hushed the Mountain dog as she stumbled out of the side of the cargo containers in a drunk-like manner. Mika kept her muzzle shut the entire time, listening in and hoping everything would work out.

<><><><>

Decker waited for what seemed like an eternity, paws tapping on the concrete as he waited for his teammates to arrive, thankfully, no one glared an eye at him due to the fact he wasn't in plain sight, just minding his own in an alleyway close to the docks. He heard his teammate's voices coming close and called out to them. "Hey, you two, come on." Decker rushed as the two picked up the pace and caught up with the Aussie.

"Alright, there's the docks over there, we got a vantage point right here. Zuma, you've been here before but you're not moving in yet, I want you to move close to where that cargo ship is with your rebreather, the pack is similar to your original, remember? Once you're there, Skye's drone will regroup with and keep a lookout while you head to the club, planting this bug." Decker soon looked at Skye and continued. "Skye, you're staying with me but you're going to recon the area with the drone that's on your pack. It can scan, pick up audio and switch to thermal vision, you control it with this." The Aussie pulled the drone out from her pack and handed it to her, bringing out a small tablet that was inside the pack. "This will control the drone, giving you a view of the place through the drones cam, just recon the place and stay a decent distance from the ground so they don't suspect anything, got it?" Decker asked as the two pups nodded in agreement, Zuma barking for his rebreather and jumping into the water, heading towards the cargo ship.

The Cockapoo turned the drone on and released it, seeing it hovering up in the air, using the tablet, she directed it towards the docks, seeing a little green dot indicating her Labrador friend was in its radius. After some time, the drone reached one of the warehouses, the pup initiated the scan and got close to the ground, hoping to catch some audio. After scanning and receiving nothing from many of the patrols that passed by, they noticed something odd. "Hey, Decker, get a look at this." The Aviator pup gestured for the dog to look at the screen, upon seeing what the pup was pointing out, the Australian mix had to double check to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

"The hell? Damn it, those must be some dogs from the Den. I think they're scoping them out too." Decker sighed as Skye shot a question at the mixed breed.

"What do you want me to do, ignore them or keep scoping the place out?" The Cockapoo asked as her eyes stood glued to the screen.

"Keep an eye on them, see what they're up to." Decker ordered as Skye nodded. "You hear that, Zuma? Looks like we aren't the only scoping out the McAllisters today. Once you get to land, Skye's gonna keep an eye out for you with her drone." Decker assured as the Cockapoo kept her drone trained on the two dogs, seeing them sneak past the workers and patrols, barely avoiding them. After some time, she noticed something odd.

"They're splitting up! I think they just got caught!" Skye tapped the screen, increasing the volume of the drone, the two listened in on the conversation that was happening between the two dogs and the patrol that caught them.

<><><><>

"Woah, who the hell are you? What're you doing here?" One of the dogs asked as the two eyed the Retriever.

"S-sorry...sugar, ju-just had...too much to drink...at t-th-that club." Mavis put on a fake southern accent, throwing the Irish dogs off. "Yo-you tell them to ea-ease up when I-I'm there." Mavis smiled at one of them. "I know they'll listen to a handsome dog like you..." The Retriever stumbled forward, bumping into one of the dogs, who caught onto her.

"You can handle this one, I ain't catching nothin' from her, good luck." The other dog left the two as Mavis continued conning him.

"Yo-you know...I can show you a g-good time, if you want me to." Mavis rubbed her tail on the dog's chin, trying her best to woo him.

"Never thought you'd ask." The dog smiled, "How about I take you somewhere private?"

"That sounds lovely, doll, lead the way." Mika heard the voices fade out as a thought rummaged through her head, did that really work? The Bernese Mountain Dog made sure the coast was clear and moved on towards the club.

Some time passed as Mavis reached a secluded spot with the Irish dog, her back turned and shuddering as she felt the dog's paws on her shoulders.

"You ready to get busy?" The Irish dog asked as he seductively smiled.

"Yeah." Mavis dropped the accent, headbutting the dog, making him stumble backwards as he held his nose in pain. The Retriever made short work of him as she slammed his head onto a nearby wall. Panting as she looked around, not knowing where she was, she kept her cool and walked through the docks, hoping to regroup with her friend and get out as soon as possible. "Come on, Mika, where are you?" She whispered to herself as she kept moving, keeping her head down to not draw attention. She saw the cargo ship close by and headed towards it, seeing workers and dogs entering and exiting the ship, carrying all sorts of goods. She hid behind a large stack of crates near an edge, peeking over, she saw a docking area for smaller boats. The Retriever dropped down, avoiding the sights of the McAllisters and cut through the area, heading towards the club.

<><><><>

At the same time, Zuma continued swimming under the murky water, just barely seeing the bottom of the large cargo ship close by, as the Labrador was approaching it, he heard Decker giving him orders through the pup tag.

"Hey, mate, we lost your signal over here, let us know where you are so we can watch your back when you're moving in."

The Chocolate Labrador reached above the surface, reaching the large cargo and pressing his paws against it to hang on, removing his rebreather for a short moment. "I'm at the cargo ship, dudes, right behind it near the small docking area." Zuma advised as he kept an eye out towards the area, barely seeing patrols pass by.

Skye had eventually noticed Zuma's signal on the drone and headed towards the large cargo ship, eventually spotting her Labrador friend keeping an eye out. "Hey, turn around." Zuma jumped back a bit as Skye let out a slight chuckle as she soon checked the area for her friend, her smile soon fading as she saw the Retriever from earlier, on the small docking area close to Zuma. "Don't move! That Retriever is back, she's at the docking area right in front of you!" Skye informed as she moved her drone close to Mavis, hearing the conversation that a patrol was having above.

<><><><>

"Can't believe Gideon actually got Hendrix on board for this, sooner or later, those bastards at the Den are going to be nothing but a memory." One of the dogs assured.

"Yeah, and with that new Husky on our side? Those fuckwits aren't gonna know what hit them." The conversation soon faded away as Mavis shook her head in disbelief, needing to find her friend and get out.

The Retriever kept moving, slowing her pace down as she heard more voices close by, after some time, she spotted a ladder leading upwards, hoping it would lead her to the club or her friend, she began climbing it but not before calling Avery on her pup tag. "Avery, it's Mavis." The Retriever notified as she began climbing.

"Mavis, how're things going?" Avery asked, with some worry in his voice.

"Not good, Mika and I almost got caught, we handled it but ended up getting separated." Mavis advised as she stopped climbing to take a breather.

"Shit, did you at least check the club out?" The Greyhound asked, setting the Retriever off.

"Maybe you didn't hear me? Mika and I got separated, I'm finding her and we're gett-!" As the Mavis reached the top, the Irish dog from earlier sliced at her face, sending her back down to the ground.

"Gotcha, ya bitch." The voice echoed as Mavis lost her breath and became winded, vision blurring for the poor Retriever.

"Mavis? Mavis!"

<><><><>

"Shit!" Decker cursed as he saw the Retriever hit the ground.

"Dudes, we gotta help her!" Zuma suggested as he was planning on moving towards the Retriever.

"Negative, stick to the mission, Zuma!" Decker advised as Skye jumped in on the argument.

"She needs our help, she's not gonna make it if we don't do something!" Skye kept her eyes on the screen, seeing Mavis being choked and attempting to get the hostile dog off of her.

"We jump in and help her, our position is blown and this whole operation will be for nothing! Stand down, that's an order! I already had to deal with one disobedient pup, don't make me deal with two more!" Decker ordered as the two listened, watching as Mavis was still struggling against the Irish dog.

<><><><>

The Retriever struggled, clawing at the dog at first but failed and eventually tried grabbing on to anything close by, off the corner of her eye, she noticed a broken bottle that could assist her but as she was attempting the grab it, the Irish dog was preventing her from doing so. Mavis's vision was blurring and she was losing consciousness, still trying to grab that broken bottle to get the dog off of her.

"Get off her!" A familiar voice yelled out as the broken bottle was plunged into the Irish dog's throat, causing him to release his grasp on Mavis and fall to the ground. The Retriever took a moment to catch her and looked on, seeing the Bernese Mountain dog that saved her.

"Th-thanks, Mika." Mavis weakly smiled as she walked over to the lifeless corpse of the dog. "I th-I thought they caught you." The Retriever pulled Mika in for a hug, letting out a sigh of relief. "Come on, help me move him and let's quit this place." The two walked over to the Irish dog's corpse and pushed it into the water, with Mavis soon eyeing her tag that fell off.

"Mav—? Ar—alri—?" The tag began malfunctioning, Mavis pressed her paw against it, hoping to fix it but to no avail, the two now had no communication.

Mavis let out a sigh. "We're on our own, Mika. Come on, let's move." The two climbed up the ladder and began to sneak their way back out the docks, hoping to not run into any more trouble.

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The two watched as Mavis and Mika left the small docking area and fled the scene as quietly as they could've. Skye, being a helpful pup almost all of her life, couldn't help the fact that she had to sit that whole situation out, as did Zuma. "We should've helped them." The Cockapoo muttered quietly as one of Decker's ears twitched at the comment.

"I know." Decker sighed. "But sometimes that's just how risks are, if Zuma jumped in and helped, they would've caused an even bigger scene and the whole dockyard would've been on all of them, you already lost your Shepherd friend, I know you don't wanna lose anyone else." Decker noted as Skye kept her drone trained on the Labrador.

"Yo-you're right, sorry, Decker." Skye apologized as she got back into the mission. "Zuma, how's it looking?"

"I don't know, you tell me, Skye? You're the one with the aerial view." Zuma joked as he hid behind a crate, avoiding a patrol that was passing by.

"The club is up ahead, mate, take a gander over by the back and plant that bug, Skye'll keep a lookout for you." Decker advised as Zuma moved up, avoiding any suspicious characters.

The Labrador reached the club, hearing the music blaring from the inside, he circled around to the back, looking up to see Skye's drone and nodding for approval. "Alright, I'm here, dude." Zuma advised.

"Alright, the bug is in your pup pack. Skye, bring the drone right here, that's where he should plant it." Decker pointed out as Skye lowered her drone towards a small electrical box.

"Should've brought Rocky for this, this is more of his thing." Zuma complained as his pup pack ejected the bug into his paws.

"Well, after Rich read me your files, I noticed that your 'friend' isn't so good with water, now is he? Just plant it and get out of there." Decker ordered as Zuma rolled his eyes, soon planting the bug and closing the electrical box.

"What's that device going to do by the way?" Skye asked, scanning the area to make sure Zuma doesn't get ambushed.

"It's a wiretap, it'll patch in to their tags and we can have to listen to what they are saying. Give it some time and we should have some info on this 'Maurice' character, should he say something that should catch our attention." Decker explained as Skye soon noticed multiple dogs running out of the club. "Woah, what's happening?"

"I don't know but, Zuma, you gotta get out of there." Skye advised as she flew her drone out of the area.

The Labrador agreed and ran towards the cargo ship, heading back towards the small docking area and jumping into the water, making his way towards Decker and Skye.

"Good job, you two, let's clear out and head back."

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"Come on, come on!" Mavis hurriedly whispered towards Mika as the two snuck out of the docks, barely avoiding the alerted patrols as they finally got clear.  The two took cover in an alleyway, with Mavis keeping an eye out in case anyone caught wind of them, with that precaution taken care of, the two finally took a breather. "You okay, Mika?" The Retriever looked over to her side and noticed the dog frozen with fear. "Mika?"

The Bernese Mountain Dog looked at her paws, stained with blood and tears dripping down from her eyes. "I-I never...killed thomeone before..." The Retriever immediately placed her paws on Mika's shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

"It's okay...it's okay." Mavis assured. "You saved me, alright? I-I tho-thought they caught you and...and killed you and I couldn't do anything about it but they didn't." Mavis smiled at the dog as tears strolled down her eyes as well. "You saved me and we're okay, that's all that matters." The two hugged each other, their trust reaching its highest potential. "Come on, Avery's gonna worry." With that, the two headed off and started making their way back to the Den, with Mavis hoping that the intel she gathered from the dogs would prove useful to Avery.

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