His fingers tapping in a pattern on the smooth wooden surface, Dr. Ulrich Reed was beginning to lose his patience. A renowned veterinarian, he was acclaimed for his many skills and techniques. But there was a side to him that the public didn't know. And there was no way he was going to allow them to see that part of his life. If he did, he'd most likely be arrested. See, what the people didn't know was the famous Dr. Ulrich Reed was also a scientist who performed experiments that appeared more like torture than anything.

And the test subjects were always animals.

Cats, dogs, birds, rodents and reptiles. Dr. Ulrich Reed experimented on any animal he could get his hands on. Once, he even had an elephant to play around with. His ways weren't in the name of science either. The veterinarian would perform tests on his subjects and he used a wide variety of equipment. Chemicals were plastered onto skin. Medicine was often overdosed in large amounts. Surgical tools were always on hand. Some animals even had wires inside their brains and muscles. And there were always sheets ready whenever a subject didn't make it.

After he was done playing around with his toys, Ulrich would hand them over to his colleague Michael Piston. The pair would then sell their wonderful creations to buyers who wanted something amazing, something exotic, something flamboyant. The world's next best thing. The more extravagant the animal was, the more money the two men would cash in.

And when science was running low or not bringing in the crowds, rarity came into play. And it never failed Ulrich and Michael. They would look for the rarest animals, steal them and sell them in their little auctions. Those brought in the big bucks. The buyers couldn't get enough of rare species. The two men have stolen endangered animals from zoos and reserves and laboratories. And they were always keeping their eyes open for those special and rare freaks of nature.

That was why Ulrich Reed was losing his patience. He had received a call from one of his men about some possible new animals to sell in the auctions. The meeting was supposed to be in his office at two in the afternoon. It was slowly reaching five. A total of almost three hours had passed and the man still hadn't shown up. Muttering something under his breath, Ulrich got up to leave.

Just then, the door swung open and a tall lanky man rushed inside, his arms cradling a bunch of papers. Pointing over at the clock, Ulrich grumbled, "You're three hours late."

"I'm so sorry sir, the bus left without me," the man, some wimp named Ryan, tried to explain his tardiness. Struggling to keep a hold on the papers he had brought along with him, he placed them down on Ulrich's desk. "Please stay, I think you might like to hear some of these," Ryan pleaded, spreading the papers around. Sighing heavily as he saw that there was no way of getting out of this, Ulrich sat back down in his chair.

Smiling, Ryan picked up the first paper and read, "A tooth from the Loch Ness monster washed up-"

"I want the actual creature, not part of it," Ulrich practically snarled.

"How about the green squirrel?"

"That's just paint."

"Alright... an actual Bigfoot has been found-"

"A man in a gorilla suit."

Noticing how this was going nowhere, Ryan sighed quietly. Picking up the papers he had brought along with him, he mumbled sadly, "Thank you for your time." Turning around to leave, he accidentally dropped one of his papers. Ulrich grabbed it before he did. Ryan could only watch as the veterinarian silently read it. Glancing up at the young man in his office, he murmured, "This is real?"

"Sure is. They took a DNA test and it came back positive," Ryan replied, taking a peek at the paper Ulrich was holding. He quietly gave the veterinarian the photograph that went along with it. "But... that's impossible! Two completely different species can not have offspring together!" Ulrich exclaimed, staring at the black and white picture. Clearing his throat, Ryan stated quietly, "That may be true. But not for these two apparently."

"Can you imagine how much money these two and their offspring can bring?" Ulrich asked. He was very intrigued by this case. Visions of money raining down on him danced in his head. Looking up from the picture he held in his hand, he ordered Ryan, "Get some men, go get these animals now." Nodding his head rapidly, the young man raced off. Smiling, Ulrich stared at the photo once more.

It depicted a fluffy white Pomeranian with two puppies and one small bird at her side while a red tailed hawk was laying beside her.