Chapter 1 --------- Underdog by Chris Teo The beagle pup looked over the materials he had gathered. After quite a bit of foraging, he now had enough material to make his costume. Jonathan Weissman sat down and looked at the comic he had bought with his savings. Jonathan has suffered much before ending up in Megakat City. He used to live in the city, Faroe Lake. That was before he was picked out and brought to a lab. After several tests and experiments, Jonathan soon gained incredible abilities, all due to a new drug. But alas, Jonathan had grown addicted to the drug, and the drug could no longer be manufactured. Those in charge of the experiment believed Underdog too dangerous to allow him to continue living. Fortunately, one of the doctors who worked there listened to his heart. He helped Jonathan escape. True, without the drug, Jonathan would most probably die. But the doctor thought that he should at least be given a chance to survive. And it was good that the doctor did help him. For some time later, after the pup's escape, he was discovered by beings. They saw his plight and decided to give aid. They brought him onto their vessel and gave him help in the form of a ring. Every twelve hours, a pill is magically produced within a compartment in the ring. In order for the pup to survive, he must ingest at least one of the pills a day. Not only do they allow him to continue living; they also restore the powers he had gained through the experiments. After his encounter with these beings, he was discovered again, this time by some kind folk who brought him to Megakat City, to where he now resides. Once he reached here, he soon learnt the extent of his powers. A couple of days ago, he was passing by a comic stand. There was an argument going on between two young kats. They were arguing over a comic of Superkat. He overheard their praise of the fictional superhero. He was quite impressed with the admiration the hero received from the two kats, and bought a comic of Superkat with the last of his money. Jonathan looked at the two medium-sized bundles of cloth that lay in front of him, one red and one blue. Both were part of his payment for helping out a tailor. He had also received some supplies, supplies necessary to help him in his plan. He took the rolled up comic from his back pocket. He took a good look at the kat on the cover. He was soaring up into the air, dressed in tight clothing and a large cape. Jonathan recognized the material Superkat was wearing as spandex. He didn't have any so he'd just have to make do with cloth. The blue cloth would be used to make the cape, and the red cloth, the suit. He was going to be like the kat in the comic, a superhero. He rolled out the blue cloth, it was large enough to be a cape and no alterations seemed to be needed. But the suit, that was where it got tricky. The only experience Jonathan had of sewing was watching the tailor at work. He'd just have to do his best and see how it turns out. The pup reached for the scissors. He didn't have enough material for a mask, nor did he feel he needed one. The kat in the comic wasn't always a superhero. At times he was just another kat on the street, dressed in working clothes and sporting black framed glasses. And when he changed into a superhero, all he had to do was remove his glasses and ruffle up his fur. He'd look like a completely different person, with no one the wiser. Jonathan thought that he would do the same. Besides, it's not like he was particularly well known, and who would suspect an orphaned pup of being a superhero. True it was bit hard for him to see without his glasses, but he could still manage. He had finished snipping the pieces of cloth into the required shape. He had the super powers, a simple disguise, and in a short while, a costume for the hero. Now all he needed was a name. It would be simple enough to just call himself Superdog, but that just doesn't seem right. He had been trying to think up a name for himself ever since he decided to become a hero, a superhero. Name after name went through his mind, "The Caped Canine", "Dog of Steel", "Wonder Pup" and many others were pondered on for a while before being discarded. They all just don't seem to suit Jonathan. He looked at the ring he had gotten from the aliens, or more specifically, at the letter or what would pass for a letter engraved on the ring. In the English language, it would look like a U. <<... Maybe a name that begins with U. >> He tried to think of every word or name that began with U. << UFO... no. U-turn... no. Ultradog... nope. Umpire... no. The uncanny U-dog? ... NAH! >> Soon, a few minutes had passed and Jonathan was starting to get tired of this. << ... No. The Unknown Dog... no. Ultraviolet... no. The Undertaker... no. Underdog... >> He stopped. << Underdog... >> He ran the word through his head a couple of times. << Underdog, Underdog, Underdog... >> Jonathan started to smile. "Underdog, yeah that's it. Underdog." He put a finger on the red cloth, tracing the letter 'U'. "Underdog, U for Underdog." ********** He shuffled uncomfortably in his new (and a couple of sizes too large) costume. It was a bit difficult for him to maneuver in the loose costume, but given the lack of materials to make another one, this would have to do. And it was quite a bit harder; moving about without his glasses, everything was all blurred around the edges. He had to fly quite close to a sign in order to read it. That was one of his new powers that he had discovered, the power of flight. It was pretty neat, at first. But without his glasses, flying into buildings, walls, signboards and any other inanimate object soon became a habit for him. Fortunately, he practiced his flying in an unpopulated area, no one was there to see him make a fool out of himself, and if anyone did, they probably wouldn't believe it and forget it some time later. Jonathan doubted that people would not mind if he crashed into their homes, so he decided to fly high up into the sky, higher up than most buildings, except for Megakat Towers because he doubted that he would be able to breathe at that high an altitude. Up there, there would be little chance of him flying into anything, except for airplanes, but those were big enough for even him to spot. Now that the flying problem was attended to, it was time to test his other powers. He had returned to where he had practiced his flying. The area was a destitute neighborhood, there was hardly anyone living here. Nobody would be there to see him practice, but just to be sure, he went there sometime in the evening. He walked over to an abandoned car, already stripped of anything and everything of value. There was nothing left except a pitiful skeleton. Not exactly what it was made for. Jonathan, who was now Underdog, put both his paws under the discarded car and lifted. He had lifted the car with ease. True, it was several pounds lighter then it was before, but it was still quite a feat for any normal person to lift it. Still believing he needed a tougher challenge, Underdog combed the area for anything large and heavy, and tossed it into the car. He lifted the car again, with its new load. It was still extraordinarily simple for him to lift the car. Now he decided to test his super strength in another way, he grabbed an iron bar he found, and bent it. He twisted it into the shape of a pretzel, almost as if it was made of dough instead of iron. He stopped, feeling that was enough. He was confident that he was ready. He then tripped over his cape. He picked himself up and dusted himself off; his costume was going to hamper him a bit. But he would be able to get by it. He spun around and flew into the sky, back to where he had hid his civilian clothes and his glasses. He wanted to get some sleep as well, one must have enough sleep if he was to fight crime, now wouldn't he? ********** "HELP! STOP THIEF!" A snatch thief dashed away from the she-kat with her purse grasped in his paws. She was screaming out for help, hoping anyone to help. Right now, that kat would probably be thinking how useless her screaming was, or perhaps he was pondering what he would do with the money he expected to find. In any case, he didn't have to think anything, because someone knocked him flat on his face before he could do so. He got up and stared at the one who had caused his sudden fall. He ended up staring at a pup dressed in a superhero's costume probably two sizes too big for him. He snickered before threatening the pup with his clenched fist. "Heh. Listen kid, get out of before I-WOAH!" The young superhero grabbed him by the wrist and flung him into a wall, as if the kat was no lighter than feather. The thief scrambled to his feet, whipped out a knife and hurled it at the hero, only to see it bounce off like a rubber toy. In desperation, he snatched up a brick and threw that at him too. Effortlessly, the pup smashed it into dust with his clenched paw. He leaped over to the now shaken and rather alarmed criminal. He lifted him up by his collar and flew up a couple of feet. As they hovered above the street, he spoke to the crook in a calm manner. "I think you should give up now." He nodded vigorously, before being flown toward a nearby lamppost. He was flung against it and watched as the deceivingly diminutive hero picked up a discarded iron pipe and wrapped it around him and the lamppost like a piece of licorice. When he was done, he clapped off the dust on his hands, picked up the stolen purse and returned it to its rightful owner, who had seen the whole thing. "I believe this is yours." He handed her the purse. She had been watching the whole thing in silent surprise. She had a closer view of her small hero and recognized his costume to be something like the costume of a comic book superhero. Except for its bagginess and the capital U instead of the expected S. "Could you call the Enforcers, I believe they'll want to have a little chat with our friend by the lamppost." "W-Who are you?" The pup smiled. "Underdog." And then he flew off into the sky like a blue blur. Leaving a surprised and grateful she-kat in his wake. ********** When Underdog was back in the air, he was positively joyous. "YAHOO!" His first day as a superhero was brilliant. To celebrate this, he performed a triple spin through the clouds. So exhilarated with his recent success at being a superhero, that he almost hit a sparrow. Startled, it chirped with surprise before flying off in the opposite direction in fear of actually being hit. Jonathan, feeling slightly embarrassed, but still quite pleased with himself. He had just stopped a crime and hardly expanded any effort. Jonathan had a really good feeling about this. Still smiling, he soared through the clouds, back to where he had left his civilian clothes and his glasses. Megakat City has a new hero now, and his name is Underdog.