"Who is the leader of this miserable, little joint?" Gevaudan the Grey Wolf demanded.

The defeated scientists of Anderson Science Center looked back at one another in amazement. Before them stood a mammoth canine-beast, like they had never seen before -- tall and wide, with a pure, even, charcoal sheen and light green eyes. The grey wolf King wore a set of dark, long-sleeved shirt and pants, made of protective aramid material, with a thicker metal casing at his chest. His trademark black cape thrashed behind him. Over his left shoulder, he carried a heavy automatic gun which appeared human in origin.

Elliot stared, dumbfounded. The canines could modify human technology, and they could speak the human language. They were more intelligent and astute than previously imagined. What are we dealing with here? Elliot thought. Perhaps the Wolf King could listen to reason?

"I, uh," Dr. Tomas started, "I am the leader here." He raised his hand to draw the unfavorable attention. In reality, he was not the designated leader of the scientific community -- they were ruled by a rotating board of council members -- but he was one of the more senior and respected physicians. He stood up from a prone position using his cane as a brace, then raised each of his arms to show he was unarmed.

Thank goodness, Elliot thought. Dr. Tomas represented the mission and philosophy of Anderson Science Center better than anyone. Elliot held hope for a peaceful and heedful negotiation.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Tomas. I am one of the senior physicians here. This is a charitable medical facility you have attacked. We absolutely represent no danger to anyone. We demand to know -- what is the meaning of this atrocious attack?"

The Wolf King looked at the old man with bewilderment. He shook his snout and laughed.

"You may demand nothing."

Gevaudan eyed the other kneeling humans as he approached Dr. Tomas from across the room.

"Your intrusion was unnecessary," Dr. Tomas continued. "We have always been open to communication with all of our animal neighbors."

"Is that so? Is that why you sent a covert group on a secret mission to HP headquarters? Because you're so open to communication? Your actions speak more honestly than your words."

A stunned silence followed the King's response.

"That messaging crew was used in an effort to avoid panic and unnecessary conflict. Where are the members now? What have you done with them?"

Gevaudan laughed.

"You are obviously not the leader if you do not already know." He looked about the place. "Why is it that you send an old, weak man to talk to me?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. "Am I to believe that he is truly your leader? You all must think me a fool!"

"We are a peaceful group," Dr. Tomas continued. "We care for the sick and poor. All animals -- all living creatures -- are welcome here. We have even helped your kind before. Surely you have seen this."

"My kind?" the Wolf King was insulted. "My kind only seeks to destroy and extinguish your kind! Your kind only pollutes and wastes the world's resources and beauty!"

Wwhhhmmmppp!!!!

Without notice, Gevaudan swung his arm down, using his claws to rip the old man across his chest and drop him to his knees.

"No-oooo!" Elliot called out.

Dr. Tomas slumped to the floor, motionless.

The other scientists gasped. Was there no decency, no common ground in peaceful negotiation?

For Elliot, the brutal action was Dr. Berman's murder revisited.

"Sorry, old chap," the Wolf King apologized. "I am not always so politically correct in my public relations. Anger management is not my strong suit."

He laughed and looked about the room.

"Again, I ask you, who is the real leader of this little craphole?"

No one answered.

"I will kill every human in here one by one until the real leader steps forward!" Gevaudan thundered.

No one dared to speak up to the King.

With that, Gevaudan grabbed the nearest kneeling human, a computer programming physician named Eva, by her hair.

"No! Please, let me go! Let me go-ooo!"

The Mongrel King pulled the girl and held her at his hip.

Eva reached above and flailed. Her glasses fell off her face and tumbled to the floor. She kicked out her legs to gain a sense of leverage, but lost her balance and smashed her face into Gevaudan's thigh.

The King's eyes rolled in a wide-eyed, counter direction. The girl's resistance caught his fancy. He grinned with abusive intent as he adjusted his grip on Eva's auburn head of hair. He jerked her head backward to observe her anguished face. He sniffed at her head and face, and was pleased in a deranged sort of way. A deep breath filled him with a familiar desire.

"Shall we dance, cherry pie?"

"No-ooooooooo!" Eva let out a blood curdling scream.

"Leave her alone!" Elliot yelled.

The interjection rang clear. Like a monitor's voice heard over the racket at a mess hall.

The Mongrel King snapped his head in the direction from where the objection came.

Elliot realized his interruption had probably cost him his life. Gevaudan had gotten what he wanted: another human foolish enough to challenge him on any level.

The Grey Wolf King shoved the crying girl aside and placed his attention on Elliot.

"Well, well, well," Gevaudan said. "What do we have here? You must be the real leader."

He stood over the kneeling, young doctor and gave him a brief look-over.

"You do not look like any Caesar. You are too little, a puny human."

He gave Elliot a thorough sniffing and noticed an odd, mixed smell.

Gevaudan's eyes dilated, and his face turned serious. He grabbed Elliot at his throat and lifted him high off the floor.

"My scouts have reported a rotting stench here. The smell of a forthcoming apocalypse. I can smell it on you! But it is not human. Tell me, what is it? What are you hiding here? A monster? In a basement?"

Elliot's eyes widened. Gevaudan already knew about Alessandro and the Center's underground floors.

"This place is not really a hospital, is it? What is it that you are doing here? Cultivating disease? Biological weapons? Creating an army of monsters?"

Elliot pulled at the King's grip around his neck. "M-monster-rs?" He struggled to speak through the choke-hold. "There are no monsters here... "

"Oh, don't lie to me, little boy. You are hiding a monster!"

"We are all... creatures of God... "

"Ha!" The Mongrel King laughed. "So, it is not a monster you hide, but a 'creature of God,' is it?"

Elliot gasped and squirmed like a fish out of water.

"Preposterous!" Gevaudan roared. He threw Elliot to the ground. "What do humans know of God?"

Elliot coughed and wheezed, and tried to catch his breath. He grabbed at his shoulder from the impact against the floor.

"Humans only know how to rape Mother Earth and her bounties! What know you of God?"

Gevaudan noted the attention in the room, his audience paying attention to his every word, like a preacher speaking to his congregation, or a scholar presenting his research thesis. He marveled at his command, with his soldiers standing over the groveling humans. The sordid scene only fed his selfish ego.

"Humans are arrogant! You all think you were created in the image of God Himself! But this planet is home to many creatures! The birds, the fish, the dogs ... It's my home, too! Is it possible that we, the Canines, were the ones created in the likeness of God?"

In the quiet background, a human entered at the corner end of the lobby.

"Are we not the most dominant creatures on Earth?" Gevaudan continued. "Mustn't every dog have its day?"

Without provocation, the Mongrel King kicked a nearby, kneeling human in the flank, bowling him over in pain.

"Well, I say today's our day!"

The mongrel soldiers cheered and barked, whooping and howling.

Gevaudan nodded at it all, thrusting his arms into the air and basking in his moment of adulation.

As the cheers died down, the Mongrel King sniffed the air around him. He would not have noticed anything, except for that smell. That unusual, insipid scent. He searched for its source and was confused by what he found. There, at the opposite end of the lobby stood Alessandro, the young man from Earth's distant past.

"Ha-ha, what have we here?" Gevaudan declared. "A monster? No, you are just a stinky, unkempt child."

"Not just a child," Alessandro announced, "A creature of God, like you."