Project K-9

Chapter 1

George straightened his back, as he tried to control his beating heart. He kept his eyes on the strong back of his chief while stealing glances at the slowly descending numbers on the elevator wall.

Besides him was his long-time friend Karl, and a new acquaintance who introduced himself as Skeppy.

This is it...my heart's beating way too fast, I need to calm down...George thought as he took in deep breaths.

Watching superhero movies as a child had always been one of his favorite pastimes, one that he often shared with Karl. The two would spend their youthful days 'saving' and helping people, both aiming to become actual superheroes in the future.

As they matured, that goal slowly changed to joining the police force, but they both felt that the rules and regulations that they would have to follow would suffocate them.

So they went with an alternative, the Twilight Agency. The name has nothing to do with the vampire movie that took the world by storm, rather it describes the idea of the organization.

The agency totters on the edge between law and crime. Dedicated to serving and protecting the country by taking on cases in the legal gray zone, and using any means necessary to solve them. Even actions that would normally be punishable by law, but the law will not touch them as they have the support of the government.

For the first few years after joining the agency, George and Karl worked at a desk from 9-5 every single day. Pushing around papers and doing the work that the field agents would pile on them due to being too busy, or as Karl would like to term it, 'lazy'.

But because the agency had lost quite a few field agents these past few years, the pair were finally given the chance to work in the field. Along with their new job came tons of bonuses, including a fancy new apartment, an increased payroll, and a brand new car.

They were both a bit worried when they were assigned to the K-9 division since the pair didn't know the first thing about dealing with a highly trained dog, but they both took on the job anyway.

The ding of the elevator brings George's mind back to the present, as his stoic chief steps out and motions for the trio to follow. They follow him down a long empty corridor in silence, their footsteps echoing off the walls creating an eerie atmosphere.

"Have you men heard of the MOB?" The chief suddenly asked, startling the three men.

"Yes sir," Karl responded.

"Do you know of their story?" The chief continued, not even glancing back at them as they continued down the corridor.

"Yes Chief Fruitberries..." George replied. "Back when this country was overrun with crime and gangs, there was constant conflict between the different groups. As the first step to peace, the leaders of all the major criminal organizations came together and combined their respective groups, forming the MOB. They ruled the crime world till ten years ago."

"Fearing what this new power could achieve, the government had the Twilight Agency put a stop to the syndicate, ensuing a bloody war that eventually ended with the agency's victory. The surviving members that managed to escape have started their own small groups again, though they do not possess the same power as the MOB did." Skeppy ended.

"Yet they still continue to elude our finest agents to this day..." Friutberries added with a sigh. "But that is not the full story, true the agency won the war, but we did not kill the heads of the organization. When we arrived all the leaders and every other person at their headquarters had already been killed..."

"By who?" George asked curiously.

"Their own creation..." Fruitberries stated grimly, before continuing with the story.

"The syndicate had been working on a project called Project Underdog. Its goal was to create mindless soldiers with superior abilities, using science. Choosing children with potential from their kidnapping and trafficking victims, they exposed the kids to several experiments. Many died, and those that didn't, end up with terrible side effects. I suppose those murders were the children's revenge."

"Forgive me Sir, but why are you telling us this?" Karl asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Where do you think the surviving children ended up after the MOB disbanded?" Fruitberries asked, turning for the first time to face them.

Realization hit the three men, whose faces contorted with shock, as they waited for their chief to continue.

"We tried having them help out on some cases, and this move appeared to be rather beneficial to the agency. So we decided to start our own Project Underdog. Minus the experiments, of course, we train them the old fashion way."

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway where two heavy doors blocked their entrance. Fruitberries typed in a code and scanned his fingers on the panel beside the door. He then looked straight at the security camera located on the right, before the doors clicked and slowly opened.

"Welcome to Project K-9"